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Thread: Death by careless driving: a lawyer's view

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    isn't trying to wind U up Shooty*'s Avatar
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    Death by careless driving: a lawyer's view

    I'd imagine a lot of you have been hearing or reading about this story today:

    BBC NEWS | UK | Killer drivers could avoid jail

    It's bizarre. The offence of causing death by careless driving was introduced by the Road Safety Act 2006 (received assent Nov 06), but this particular part of that Act has NOT been brought into force yet.

    That means that, at the moment, NO ONE has been sent to prison for it. And no one will be for a while, as it's still not in force. So this "news" story amounts to "people will not be sent to prison for something they're already not sent to prison for".

    Absurd.

    Reading between the lines, what this is is the government saying "Right, we're FINALLY going to bring this offence in, 1.5 years after we invented it, and this is the best way to introduce it to the public. Pay attention, plebs, you could be going to prison".

    I didn't think they've had the balls to bring this offence in. If they're robbing it of it's teeth already, then perhaps they have half ball measures, as it were.

    Sorry, that's my little rant. I deal with such offences on a day to day basis, and this story makes little sense to me. But for what it's worth, I think the report has got it right-ish.

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    Senior Member SilentDeath's Avatar
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    Re: Death by careless driving: a lawyer's view

    Careless driving = dangerous driving. They are the same thing. We already have "death by dangerous driving" and it allows inprisonment.. so what is the problem?


    Somone is getting paid too much...

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    Welcome to stampytown! Salazaar's Avatar
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    Re: Death by careless driving: a lawyer's view

    I don't think that's what it's saying at all. Isn't it just giving judges to opportunity to give out an appropriate sentence if an otherwise good driver has made a momentary mistake. To give out a five year sentence to someone who may have barely done anything wrong, albeit with deadly consequences, seems a bit harsh, especially when they still have to deal with the knowlege that the have killed someone.
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    isn't trying to wind U up Shooty*'s Avatar
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    Re: Death by careless driving: a lawyer's view

    "Careless driving = dangerous driving"

    Eh? What? NO. And while I'm on the subject, what the f**k has this got to do with how much I get paid?

    Careless: your standard of driving falls below that of a reasonable driver. That could be, for example, momentarily looking at your radio as you turn the volume up. A split second. But that's all it takes. Are you saying you never use your radio? Or look at road side posters? Or reach for your sunglasses in the centre console? Or look at a passenger when you're talking?

    Dangerous: your standard of driving falls so far belowthe reasonable standard as to be considered dangerous: running a red, excessive speed.

    There is (usually) a bit of a difference.

    Perhaps I'm not clear: I wondering why something that IS NOT EVEN AN OFFENCE YET is attracting headlines.

    Salazaar: not sure which of us you're referring to by saying "dont think its saying that", but I agree with your take on it.
    Last edited by Shooty*; 10-01-2008 at 10:04 AM.

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    Re: Death by careless driving: a lawyer's view

    I was listening to LBC this morning and I could have sworn I heard the dj saying that some guy had knocked down and killed a 12 year old girl, then left the scene without reporting it and had got 200 hours community service.

    Couldn't believe it.
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    Re: Death by careless driving: a lawyer's view

    Quote Originally Posted by Salazaar View Post
    .... Isn't it just giving judges to opportunity to give out an appropriate sentence if an otherwise good driver has made a momentary mistake. To give out a five year sentence to someone who may have barely done anything wrong, albeit with deadly consequences, seems a bit harsh, especially when they still have to deal with the knowlege that the have killed someone.
    That's the way I read it, and I completely agree with you.

    Both "careless" and "dangerous" cover a fairly wide range of actual circumstances, and the penalties that are available to a court ought to give range for punishment that suits the crime. For instance, as has been mentioned, adjusting your radio volume. To my mind, reaching out a turning the radio down, especially if you do it without taking your eyes off the road even for an instant, is a different level of "carelessness" from the silly cow who was driving along with a lipstick in one hand and a powder compact (mirror) in the other, doing her make-up. Hands on the wheel? Nope. That, to my mind, is closer to dangerous than careless.

    On the other hand, reaching out and turning the radio down when you're doing a steady five miles an hour in a traffic jam on a motorway is considerable less risky than doing it at 30 mph in a built-up area, outside a school at turning out time. The penalty needs to reflect circumstances.

    As with most offences, there needs to be a range of punishments of varying severity that a court can impose, depending on circumstances. But with ANYTHING that ends up causing a death, then to my mind, a prison sentence ought to be a possibility .... not mandatory, mind you, just that it ought to be available to the court if circumstances are appropriate.

    Driving a car is an act that inherently carries some dangers, and can quite easily end up causing serious injury or death, so ANYONE driving, under absolutely any circumstances at all, needs to be aware that with the privilege of driving comes a responsibility and a duty to do it with due care and attention. Because if you don't, it's only pot luck that separates those that do it when nothing happens from those that do it when someone ends up dead.

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