Road Safety Act is worthy but tepid
By CTC
The Government's new road safety legislation, which today passed into law as the Road Safety Act 2006, has been described as a “missed opportunity to make a real difference for all vulnerable road users” by national cyclists' organisation, CTC.
Many MPs had hoped the original Bill would include stronger measures for road safety, including a “default” 20mph speed limit in urban areas, a lower drink-drive limit and a reversing of the Government's proposals which would allow the number of penalty points for speeding to be reduced from 3 points to 2.
Despite introducing new offences of causing death by careless driving and causing death while driving unlicensed, disqualified or uninsured, the new Act does nothing to address serious anomalies in the legal framework of 'bad driving' offences. One is that the legal definition of 'careless' and 'dangerous' driving makes it very hard to secure convictions for the more serious “dangerous” driving offences. Another is that the tough sentences available for offences where someone is killed are not matched by the trifling sentences for equally bad driving where the victim happens to survive. This discrepancy appears to make the courts reluctant to use their full sentencing power in cases where death does occur.
Far from addressing these issues, CTC feels the Act's new offence of 'causing death by careless driving' is likely to cause as many problems as it solves. It will have a maximum sentence of 5 years, yet “dangerous” (i.e. worse) driving will still only have a maximum sentence of just 2 years if (say) the victim is maimed rather than killed.
CTC Campaigns and Policy Manager Roger Geffen said: "The Government has been making all the right noises about the environmental, health and other benefits of cycling, but has missed a perfect opportunity to make a real difference for all vulnerable road users. We've known for years that the biggest barrier to cycling is fear of traffic - now it seems that the motor car is so terrifying, that the Government is afraid to tackle it."
CTC Website www.ctc.org.uk
CTC had called for the Bill to include:
a “default” 20mph speed limit in urban areas;
a lower drink-drive limit;
extending the scope of bad driving offences involving death to also cover very serious injuries;
tough penalties for those who drive while unlicensed or uninsured (particularly those who do so repeatedly) or who leave the scene of a crash;
reversing the Government's proposals which would allow the number of penalty points for speeding to be reduced from 3 points to 2;
a power for the Secretary of State to require “black box” data recorders in different categories of vehicles (and to regulate the uses of this data to address privacy concerns);
a power for the Secretary of State to introduce regulations governing pedicabs and their riders (these proposals are supported both by cycling organisations and pedicab operators themselves)
Mrs NBT
