Road Safety Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 85:"After Clause 18, insert the following new clause—"    ““CAUSING DEATH OR INJURY BY NEGLIGENT DRIVING (1)   The Road Traffic Act 1988 (c. 52) is amended as follows. (2)   After section 2A insert— ““2B   CAUSING DEATH OR INJURY BY NEGLIGENT DRIVING (1)   A person who causes the death of or serious injury to another person by driving a mechanically propelled vehicle negligently on a road or other public place is guilty of an offence. (2)   A person is to be regarded as suffering serious injury if he suffers injury that is life changing or life threatening or both. 2C   MEANING OF NEGLIGENT DRIVING (1)   A person is to be regarded as driving negligently if he drives without due care and attention or without reasonable consideration for other persons using the road or place. (2)   The Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 (c. 53) is amended as follows. (3)   In Part 1 of Schedule 2 to the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 (prosecution and punishment of offences: offences under the Traffic Acts), after the entry relating to section 2 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 insert a new entry— RTA section 2B Causing death or serious injury by negligent driving On indictment 10 years or a fine or both Discretionary Obligatory 3–11"" The noble Earl said: The amendment would introduce a new charge of causing death or injury by negligent driving; thereby, it claims to bridge a gap in the law relating to serious driving offences. The current pattern of road traffic law in dealing with a death or injury on the roads has been criticised by many as deficient. At present, a death or injury may be followed by one of three criminal charges. First, the most serious one is that of causing death by dangerous driving. It can be tried in the Crown Court and carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years. In bringing such   a charge, the Crown Prosecution Service must demonstrate that the standard of driving by the defendant was far below that expected of a competent driver. Secondly, there is the charge of dangerous driving that has resulted in injury but not death. As in the first case, such dangerous driving must be deemed to be far below that expected of a competent driver. The second charge can be tried in either a Crown Court or a magistrates’ court. The maximum sentence is two years’ imprisonment. The third charge is driving without due care and attention, often referred to as careless driving. That charge can be taken only in a magistrates’ court. A sentence cannot include imprisonment, driving disqualification is discretionary, and any fine imposed may not exceed £2,500. A Department for Transport research report published in 2002, Dangerous Driving and the Law, followed a series of cases through the court process. It discovered that a number of incidents involving a death on the roads were subsequently treated as cases of careless driving, with far lower penalties ensuing than seemed to be right, given the severity of the offence and of the consequences. The report proposed a new offence—causing death by negligent driving—to fill the perceived justice gap. The Government had been reluctant to act on the issue until the publication of a report commissioned by the Home Office. Published in February of this year, A Review of Road Traffic Offences involving Bad Driving contained proposals to amend the law. The closing date for consultation on the proposals was 6 May. In a debate in Westminster Hall on 21 June, the Home Office Minister, Fiona Mactaggart, referred to the intention to publish a summary of the responses received ““in due course””—a timescale that could mean almost anything. The Government had already indicated their intention to raise the maximum penalty for dangerous driving to five years’ imprisonment. The consultation document proposed a new offence of causing death by careless driving. Amendment No. 85 therefore offers the Government an opportunity to write their intentions into the statute book. There are, however, two differences. First, the amendment here deliberately uses the word ““negligent””, rather than ““careless””. Many crashes involving a death are not accidental. They may not be deliberate—dangerous driving covers that issue—but they involve a lapse of concentration that a careful driver should not experience. The term ““negligent”” would perhaps fit better than ““careless””. Secondly, it would introduce the aspect of serious injury. That already applies in Northern Ireland. I beg to move.