warrenm2

Causing death whilst uninsured or unlicenced

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4392584.stm

OllyK

I'm not sure why we need yet more bloody legislation. Surely killing somebody is covered under murder or man slaughter and either of those could be applied to a situation where a car and a death is involved. The sentence should then be set depending the remorse of the convicted along with the circumstances of the crime and the likelyhood that they would re-offend and the impact of the victim's familiy. Or am I missing something?

ajm

Fair enough on the unlicensed/uninsured but wtf is 'causing death by careless driving'?

'Causing death by dangerous driving' makes sense, because if you have killed someone, and it was your fault, then your driving must have been dangerous by definition and therefore proveable as such.

What the hell do they need a 'causing death by careless driving' offence for if not to try and pin every road death on a driver? It was a 'tiny bit' your fault so you gonna be banged up!

e.g. a drunk staggers out in front of you, you are doing 35 in a 30. Your speed would not have made a tangible difference in your reaction time, yet it might be the difference between no fault and 5 years inside.

I look forward to reading their 'statutory definition' of careless driving...

hedgehog

Yes, the causing death by careless is frightening just because careless represents a minor lapse in concentration or observation, not some nutter driver behaving badly. I defy anyone to say that they haven't had the occasional lapse in concentration while driving and if so then they are a likely victim of this law. It is also interesting to reflect that you will get 2 years if you cause death while willfully driving uninsured but 5 years for making a small mistake. Says it all for this current government who seem to want to protect the real criminals at the expense of the normally law abiding motorist.

It is also a fact that over 80% (actually well over 90% depending on the figures you get) of pedestrians are deemed by police investigators to have "entered the carriageway without looking" in order to meet their deaths. Now the motorist is going to go to jail for this "crime" despite him being little more than a witness to the event.

hedgehog

It might also be interesting to compare the huge rise in prosecutions of motorists each year, which now runs into millions, with the number of cyclists prosecuted each year. In 2003, the last year for which i have figures, 325 cyclists were done by police for "cycling related" offences and yet I can hardly walk on the footpath without them running into me and I can hardly drive on the road without spotting one going through a red light or otherwise behaving in a dangerous manner causing motorists to have to take avoiding action.

This should tell you something and any motorist who wants to retain the right to drive on the roads in the UK needs to be doing something about the current situation. As before I'd suggest at least joining the ABD, they might be less than perfect but they are the best voice the motorist has and at £20 a year it is a good investment in the future of motoring.