Deadly: Worst drivers deserve most severe penalties which reflect lifelong affects
Author:
ROBIN ROBERTS
An IAM poll says Britons want tougher laws for the most dangerous drivers.
The new offence: “Causing serious injury by dangerous driving” found the support of 94% cent of drivers. This comes from a recent poll of over 1400 people, by road safety charity the IAM. Only 6% think it’s a bad idea.
Whilst this is unlikely to affect commercial vehicle drivers directly, who wouldn’t want to be driving their business van on safer roads during the rush hours?
At present, when reckless driving causes very serious injury, the driver is often only charged with dangerous driving. Whilst this is a serious crime with a heavy penalty, it doesn’t necessarily take into account the severity of the outcome.
This new law of causing serious injury by dangerous driving would reflect a driver’s recklessness that has caused someone life changing injuries with even tougher penalties. The poll also revealed that attitudes to deterrents for bad driving were mixed.
70% feared “enforcement – the likelihood I will get caught”; 48% said “the consequences – causing death or injury to myself or others”, while 43% said they worried about “the severity of the punishment if I am caught”.
“People want to see tougher penalties to deal with situations where the victim of a road accident is seriously injured. But the government needs to ensure that punishments for dangerous driving accurately reflect the severity of the offences committed,” said IAM chief exec, Simon Best.
“It may seem shocking that enforcement is a greater deterrent to poor driving, than the risk of causing death of injury, but just as seeing police on the beat reduces crime, highly visible traffic cops reduce bad driving. Therefore any change in law needs to be supported by well-resourced enforcement on our roads.”
Van drivers everywhere would welcome safer roads, allowing them to get on with their business mileage in a less threatening driving environment.
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