ALG Transport and Environment
Committee – Urgency Procedure
Appendix C
ALG Response to Home Office
Item
Consultation on the Review of no.
Road Traffic Offences
Involving Bad Driving
Report by:
Marisa Ker
Date:
6 May 2005
Contact
Officer:
Marisa Ker
Telephone:
020 7934 9830
Summary:
Job
title:
Emai
l:
27
Transport and Planning
Policy Officer
[email protected]
This report gives details of the proposed ALG
response (attached as Appendix 1) to a
consultation exercise by the Home Office on the
Review of Road Traffic Offences Involving Bad
Driving.
This report is being sent through urgency
procedures because the closing date for the Home
Office consultation is 16th May. This is an
extension on the original closing date of the 6th
May which has been granted by the Home Office.
Recommendatio
ns:
ALG TEC Elected Officers are recommended to
agree that:

The proposed ALG response to the DfT
consultation, (attached as Appendix 1), be
approved and sent to the Home Office.
ALG Transport & Environment Committee
Urgency Procedure – – ALG Response to DfT consultation
Agenda Item 27
21 July 2005
Introduction
1. The present framework of offences relating to road
traffic offences involving bad driving is derived from a
thoroughgoing Road Traffic Law Review, whose Report (the
“North Report”) covering these and many other issues,
was published in 1988. However, recent research has
raised questions about whether the present law has
worked as expected by the authors of the North Report
and offered suggestions for change. On 3rd February
2005 the Home Office published a consultation document
setting out a review of the main statutory offences
relating to bad driving and their related maximum
penalties. The consultation includes the following
proposals:

The introduction of a new offence of causing death by
careless driving, with a maximum of 5 years
imprisonment;

The introduction of a new offence dealing with death
resulting from illegal (disqualified and unlicensed)
driving with a maximum penalty of 5 years;

A requirement for the courts to take serious injuries
into account when sentencing;

To make community penalties more readily available for
non-imprisonable offences;

Defining careless driving in statute;

Allowing the courts to find defendants guilty of a
statutory bad driving offence as an
alternative to manslaughter so as to ensure
those found not guilty of manslaughter
do not escape the law altogether;

The outdated offence, in England and Wales, of “wanton
and furious driving” in the Offences Against the Person
Act 1861 should be replaced by suitable modern
provisions.
2. The consultation will run until 6th May 2005. The ALG has
been granted an extension on the deadline for submissions
to the 16th May 2005.
Legal Implications
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ALG Transport & Environment Committee
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Agenda Item 27
21 July
3. There are no specific legal implications for London local
authorities or the ALG.
Financial Implications:
4. There are no significant financial implications.
Equalities implications
6. There are no significant equalities implications.
Background Papers
Short Title of
Document
Date
File
Review of Road
Traffic Offences
Involving Bad
Driving
3rd
59½
February Southwark
2005
Street
Location
Contact
Officer
Marisa
Ker
Exempt
Info Para
under
Schedule
12A
N/A
444
ALG Transport & Environment Committee
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Agenda Item 27
21 July
Appendix 1: Proposed ALG response to Home Office consultation
General Comments:

The ALG welcomes the consultation paper on the Review of
Road Traffic Offence Involving Bad Driving and the
opportunities that it presents to deal more effectively
with bad driving and its consequences. Road safety is a
key concern for London local authorities. Approximately
5,000 people are killed or seriously injured on the
capital’s roads each year and a high priority is placed
on improving road safety. In addition to national road
safety targets, the Mayor of London has introduced
challenging road safety targets for London to meet. Key
stakeholders have joined together to work on road safety
issues through the Pan London Road Safety Forum. This
organisation brings together stakeholder representatives
involved in road safety in London to share best practice
and identify issues for examination in order to assist
London in meeting road safety targets. The proposals in
this consultation will complement work already being
carried out by members of the Pan London Road Safety
Forum.

It is vital that road safety legislation supports and
protects those who drive well while fully addressing the
problem of those who deliberately decide to drive in a
way that is dangerous to others. Bad driving is a form
of anti-social behaviour and the ALG supports the
introduction of stronger penalties to address bad
driving and its consequences.

Although the ALG strongly believes that criminal
sanctions can act as a valuable deterrent, the
effectiveness of such measures depends on the likelihood
of detection and the quality of investigations. The ALG
asks that sufficient resources are granted to ensure
that this work can be carried out by the police, but not
at the cost of other essential front line services. It
should be noted, however, that the ALG believes that the
enforcement of traffic management legislation should be
the responsibility of the relevant Highways Authority,
while safety is the responsibility of the police.

The ALG is disappointed that the consultation paper has
not considered additional penalties for the offence of
failing to stop. At present, those convicted of this
offence receive a maximum of six months imprisonment or
a fine with discretionary disqualification. The ALG is
concerned that, if stronger penalties are introduced for
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ALG Transport & Environment Committee
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Agenda Item 27
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other offences, this could lead to an increase in
number of incidents where the person in charge of
vehicle
fails
to
stop,
and
requests
that
introduction of stronger penalties for this offence
considered.
the
the
the
are
Points 3.1 – 3.18 – Types of Offences

The ALG agrees that there should continue to be a ‘mix’
of two general offences, one higher and the other at a
lower level and a range of more specific offences to
deal with bad driving.
This enables flexibility and
ensures that penalties exist to reflect the varying
degrees of seriousness of the offence committed.

The ALG does not see any need to change the current
terminology of “dangerous driving” and “driving without
due care and attention” and agrees that further
statutory definitions of the offences, in terms of
driving ‘far below’ and ‘below’ the standard expected of
a competent and careful driver, would be helpful.

The proposed new offence of ‘death by careless driving’
will help to fill the current ‘gap’ between offences
where a fatality has occurred, and is welcomed. At
present, if ‘death by dangerous driving’ can be proved,
the maximum penalty is 14 years imprisonment, but if
not, the maximum penalty is a £2,500 fine. This new
offence will enable flexibility to be maintained within
the penalty structure to distinguish between a fatality
that is the result of an act of deliberate recklessness
and one that is the result of a momentary lapse in
concentration. In addition, it will also provide the
families of the deceased with a sense of justice that
the existing system can not always provide.

The ALG supports the increase of the maximum fine for
those convicted of careless driving from level 4
(£2,500) to level 5 (£5,000).
Point 3.19-3.35 – taking the consequences of bad driving into
account

The ALG does not object
to the proposal that
consequences of dangerous driving should be taken into
account, including serious injuries, both in cases of
death by dangerous driving and the lower level offences
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ALG Transport & Environment Committee
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of careless driving. Many injuries resulting from a road
traffic incident can be hugely debilitating and have a
marked impact on quality of life. These consequences
should be taken into account by the courts in deciding
an appropriate punishment. However, we do acknowledge
that there could be difficulties caused by sentencing
according to the severity of injury which could lead to
inconsistencies in sentencing and the potential for
appeals.
Point 3.36 – 3.37 – Scope of Offences: Private Property

The ALG notes the comments within the consultation paper
regarding the need to repeal the offence of “wanton and
furious” driving in Section 35 of the Offences Against
the Person Act 1861. However, it is important that this
is replaced by modern provisions to allow suitable
penalties to be imposed on bad driving in private places
and also by non-motorised vehicles.
The ALG supports
the suggestion to extend to private property the
offences that apply in public places
Point 4.1 – 4.16 – Taking a Vehicle Unlawfully on to the Road

Driving while disqualified puts other road users at risk
and the ALG believes that there should be stronger
penalties for those who commit this offence. The ALG is
concerned that the Government is proposing to undertake
a greater use of non-custodial sentences in respect of
people who drive while disqualified, particularly as
point 4.2 notes that: “it is safe to assume that the
disqualified driver is more of a threat to the safety of
other road users than the general run of qualified
drivers”.
The ALG requests that greater consideration
be given to introducing appropriate penalties to deter
those who are disqualified from driving.

Furthermore, the ALG also believes that stronger
penalties should also be imposed on those who drive
without an appropriate driving licence. Although it is
noted that the maximum penalty that can be imposed for
this offence is £3000, in 2002 the average fine for this
offence was £64 and we suggest that this is not high
enough to deter offenders.

The ALG would not oppose the introduction of a new
offence carrying a maximum penalty of five years’
imprisonment for those driving while disqualified or
unlicensed who are involved in a collision. However, the
ALG believe that it is important to introduce effective
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ALG Transport & Environment Committee
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measures to deter those who are disqualified or
unlicensed from driving to prevent these collisions from
occurring in the first place.

The number of uninsured vehicles on the roads is a
serious problem. In parts of London it is estimated that
one in ten vehicles are uninsured. Although the ALG
notes that the maximum penalty that can be imposed for
this offence is £5,000, the consultation paper notes
that the average fine is £152.
This is not at a high
enough level to deter offenders and the numbers
committing this offence are not likely to decline until
stronger penalties are imposed on those committing this
offence.
Ends
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Agenda Item 27
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