Community sentances for drivers that kill???

Bassjunkieuk

I think the justice system has finally gone mad, heard this on the news this morning:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7178120.stm

Undoubtedly it will be pushed through by government regardless of what we citizens actually think...

IMHO any driver who kills who receive a custodial sentence, after all what's the difference between a momentary lack of concentration and carelessness?

DavidTQ

I believe its actually a step up in powers from the current situation, at the moment theres something about the legal distinction between dangerous and careless driving which means a dangerous driving charge is VERY hard to prove in court, and careless driving can not carry a custodial sentence, This move does mean that the courts will have an option to imprison even if the legal standard of dangerous driving has not been proven.

Under current rules quite how bad driving that killed someone isnt "dangerous" I dont know....

el_presidente

It's bizarre really. If you killed someone through careless use of any other piece of machinery you would be up on a manslaughter charge

"Oh sorry officer I was using this chainsaw safely but a momentary lapse of concentration while I answered my phone meant I sliced a small girl's head off"

"Well I am sure that was just an accident, here have some community service"

DavidTQ

el_presidente wrote:

It's bizarre really. If you killed someone through careless use of any other piece of machinery you would be up on a manslaughter charge

"Oh sorry officer I was using this chainsaw safely but a momentary lapse of concentration while I answered my phone meant I sliced a small girl's head off"

"Well I am sure that was just an accident, here have some community service"

If you want to kill someone a car is the weapon of choice to do so with... you can do it in a car and get a far lower sentance than you would for using another weapon.

I seem to remember a tv series once upon a time where a guy killed his wife using a car to get off scott free. Basically he took her for a ride, and pressed her seat belt button as he drove into something, there was no case against him at all, it was all just a tragic accident, and she should have worn her seat belt... Fictional, but I remember thinking at the time that it would probably work and it was shocking that someone could get away with murder just by using a car to do it.

Any one of those motorists could take a dislike to you on your bike deliberately mow you down and claim to the police they just didnt see you, the chances are they wouldnt even have the possibility of facing jail, despite having murdered you in cold blood...

mrchrispy

it might give the courts more powers to imprison but this puts the though firmly in the public mind that if you kill someone with a car the likelihood is you WONT go to prison.
Drivers need the constant worry that if they kill someone in their car then they are screwed….not that it’ll cause them a little hassle.

Jebus I really do give in. I think I’ll write to my MP.
http://www.writetothem.com/

El Gordo

mrchrispy wrote:

Drivers need the constant worry that if they kill someone in their car then they are screwed….not that it’ll cause them a little hassle.

I suspect that the vast majority of drivers are not quite so calous as to think that the only reason not to kill someone is that they may wind up in prison. Yes, there are psycopaths out there who have no regard for human life but in reality they are very few and far between.

It's a fact of life that the roads will always be dangerous. Cars (and trucks, buses, bikes and pedestrians) are controlled by humans and people are prone to making mistakes. Good drivers will make less mistakes but they are still not infallible. Punishing someone who has made an innocent mistake and unfortunatley consequently killed someone whilst doing something inherrently dangerous to the same extent as someone who has no regard for safety (ie. drunk, using their mobile etc.) is hardly justice.

This change in the law seems quite reasonable to me. It's fairly typical journalistic spin that makes it sound crazy.

el_presidente

If you are happy with over 3,000 deaths on the roads every year then yes this sort of tweaking is fine.

If you want to reduce the carnage then some kind of incentive is needed, stiffer sentences are a good start.

I do not think it is acceptable to just say "oh well cars are dangerous therefore let's just get on with it". If 3,000 people were to die on the railways every year no-one would ever go near a train* yet for some reason it is acceptable for this carnage on the roads. Making it a much more serious offence to kill someone on the roads goes someway to making this happen, I think.

If I were the editor of a national paper I would start a road-safety campaign, my first task would be to list a roll-call of the previous day's dead on the front page every day in big letters. That might start a few people taking notice.

*I understand there are many many fewer passenger-miles by rail

mrchrispy

i agree that the change might make it easier to get a result when someone has killed a person due to driving like a twunt where as before making a dangerous driving charge stick might have been difficult (i suspect the CPS would rather have a result than risk a not guilty while pursuing justice). But.....we need something to make that little voice in a person a little louder when they are maybe unintentionally doing something daft. I’ve done it myself….you catch yourself getting a little too ‘enthusiastic’ and the little voice brings you back to reality before you crash into a bus full of nuns.

DavidTQ

Under the current law drivers are getting away with murder, two cases in the local paper TODAY, bad driving causing deaths, both come under the careless driving category one got £250 fine a 5 points one got £200 fine and 9 points.

Two lives wiped out and £450 in fines, total...

http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/displ ... eId=134831

http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/displ ... eId=134831

As a driver you are punished m ore for exceeding the speed limit on the motorway than actually killing someone in the city...

Wooliferkins

You get careless driving as the law stands, £150 and a couple of points, it's getting better and if the 3/4BS* can be proved to be doing the normal (speeding, phoning, texting, etc) then down they go.

*1/2 Whit