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The families of victims of careless
drivers call for tougher sentencing for the new offence of death
by careless or inconsiderate driving - 13th January
2008
Grieving parents reacted with anger when new
"tough" laws mean that drivers who have killed people in
road accidents
could still escape custodial sentence.
They spoke on behalf the families of victims
of fatal
road accidents when they learned that careless motorists who
cause multiple deaths could escape with just community
sentences.
Unlicensed and
uninsured drivers could also avoid custodial sentences under
the new guidelines for sentencing, this group of drivers are
often responsible for
hit and run incidents.
These guidelines are despite research given
to the
sentencing guidelines council (SGC) showing that the
majority of people think these sentences are too lenient.
A spokesperson for
Brake the road safety charity
said: "If someone in my family was killed by a driver I wouldn't
be satisfied with a community sentence. We want to see custody
as the starting point." The offence of causing death by careless
driving carries a maximum of five years in jail.
The SGC recommended community punishments
where the
accident occurred when drivers had "momentary inattention".
This is due to things like the driver tuning
the radio, altering a cd, distracted by sat nav or staring at
pedestrians. It is not clear yet as to whether motorists using
mobile phones would fall in to this category or the more
serious death by dangerous driving which has a maximum fourteen
years custodial sentence.
A police representative on the SGC said: “It
would be premature to start reviewing a tariff before we have
started operating the offence." Parliament has passed the new
offence of death by careless or inconsiderate driving but it
will not come into effect until approval has been given to the
sentence guidelines.
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