Victims of Road Traffic Offences: Criminal Justice System

Debate between Selaine Saxby and Sarah Dyke

Tuesday 30th January 2024 Westminster Hall

[Selaine Saxby (North Devon) (Con)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered victims of road traffic offences and the criminal justice system.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this morning, Ms Nokes.

I am speaking not just as a representative of my North Devon constituency, but primarily as co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on cycling and walking. I am also here as a voice for the countless people across our country whose lives have been or could be tragically impacted by road crashes. I am careful to use the word “crashes” or “collisions” rather than “accidents” because RoadPeace, the charity supporting those who are bereaved or seriously injured after road traffic collisions, highlights that accidents are seen as “just one of those things”. In many cases, as we will hear today, there are a series of actions leading up to avoidable tragedies.

This debate has been secured following the APPG’s report on “Road Justice”, published late last year, which is a profound testament to the urgent need for reform. It is not an exaggeration to say that this is a matter not just of policy, but of life and death. This inquiry was a follow-up to the first in 2017, when my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Cheltenham (Alex Chalk), who is now the Justice Secretary, held my position on the APPG. I spoke to him yesterday evening, and he is taking a keen interest in today’s debate; he will be facilitating a meeting for me with the relevant Minister following it.

The Government’s vision, as articulated in “Gear Change”, is ambitious and commendable. It is to see half of all journeys in towns and cities made accessible by walking or cycling by 2030. However, this vision is currently jeopardised by a prevailing climate of fear among vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists. It also does not consider the complexities of active travel on rural roads, the encouragement of which requires a vastly different approach compared to the encouragement of active travel in more urban environments. The Department for Transport has made fantastic efforts to include rurality in its funding, but I ask that it extends rural thinking across the whole portfolio, so we can have a joined-up approach to road safety.

As many of us will know from the volume of correspondence from constituents, road safety is an issue that affects pretty much all of us, and pedestrians and cyclists are most at risk. To tackle road safety and improve the experience in the justice system, everybody needs to work together, and that includes Government Departments. Many of the responsibilities in this area fall between the Department for Transport, the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice, and I am sure that collaboration can be improved.

The inquiry conducted by the APPG included 10 recommendations categorised into two groups: group A, requiring ambitious reform; and group B, rapid and more uncontroversial proposals that could be implemented quickly. They would all require support from the Ministry of Justice, the Department for Transport and the Home Office.

The first recommendation in group A—aiming for ambitious reforms—is that the Government introduce escalating penalties for repeat road traffic offences. Analysis of police data from 2014 to 2017 has revealed that 47% of those convicted for driving while disqualified had at least one previous conviction for the offence. However, there is not currently a means for penalties to increase in steps. Instead, the magistrate or judge is limited to the same maximum penalty that applies to a first offence. I raised this point in the Chamber with the Minister for prisons, parole and probation—the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, my right hon. Friend the Member for Charnwood (Edward Argar)—last year, and asked about his Department’s plans to escalate traffic offences, especially as repeat offenders are given the same penalty as a first-time offender. This would be an important step towards making road justice a reality for those walking, wheeling and cycling.

The APPG also asked for compulsory retesting of offenders. Any driver who has been disqualified should be required to undergo retesting. This currently happens only for the most serious of offences, such as causing death by dangerous driving. This is not punitive, but a necessary measure to ensure that drivers possess the skills and awareness needed for safe driving. The report proposed increasing the maximum sentence for dangerous driving to four years, reflecting the severity of such offences and their potential for causing harm. We need to deter and tackle dangerous drivers before they kill, so dangerous driving needs to be treated more seriously.

The concept of exceptional hardship in the totting-up process for driving disqualifications must also be revisited. We advocate a stricter interpretation to ensure that it is not misused as a loophole. Approximately 23% of those who amass 12 penalty points successfully argue against disqualification on the grounds of exceptional hardship. We should prioritise the hardship felt by families and victims of road crashes rather than prioritising the convenience of offenders.

The second part of the report calls for

“thorough investigation of serious collisions”.

Standardised best practice-based guidelines for investigating serious road traffic collisions must be adopted across all police forces. This uniformity will ensure justice and proper accountability. There is also a need to implement a standardisation system for third-party reporting of traffic incidents via dashcams. Currently, this can be a postcode lottery, and the change would facilitate a more consistent and efficient handling of such reports.

The report recommends establishing a UK commissioner for road danger reduction. The role would involve measuring road danger, setting reduction targets and ensuring effective collaboration among various stakeholders. This campaign is championed by crash victim Sarah Hope, who I know hoped to be in the Public Gallery today. We need to recognise that crash victims should be treated as victims of crime, barring clear evidence to the contrary. This recognition is vital in addressing their trauma and loss.

As we look at extending understanding of the highway code, we need a better communication campaign to enhance that understanding and compliance with the revised highway code, which would also contribute significantly to improving road safety.

In addition to the report, I feel it important to mention some of the additional issues that road safety campaigners have highlighted to us. One is the lengthy delay in the publishing of various calls for evidence by the Department for Transport, and the delay in publishing its road safety strategy. The call for evidence for the Department for Transport’s roads policing review began on 13 July 2020, with recommendations due in spring 2021. To date, no update has been published. In May 2014, the coalition Government at the time committed to undertake a full review of offences and penalties. Although this is no longer the same Government, for 10 years various Ministers in both the Department for Transport and the Ministry of Justice have promised that this is coming in “due course”. I hope that today the Minister will be able to provide a significant update on that timeline.

The Department for Transport has said that it intends to publish a new road safety strategy. There is currently a document in place for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but not England. It is essential that we know when such an important document will be published and put into practice. I again ask the Minister whether he can give any indication of a timeframe for the publication of that road safety strategy.

Unfortunately, most Members will have seen awful cases of road violence in their constituencies and struggle to understand the reasoning behind the charge and sentencing. The Under-Secretary of State for Wales, my hon. Friend the Member for Brecon and Radnorshire (Fay Jones), asked me to represent the case of Harry Webb on behalf of Harry’s parents in Powys. Harry was cycling in Hackney when he was killed by a driver. Harry was killed in a 20 mph limit area; if the driver had been driving at the speed limit, Harry would probably have got away with broken limbs at worst. However, that was not the case and if someone is charged—and there is no indication that they have been—it is regrettable that the case will not come to court until 2025. If someone is charged and found guilty, a criminally reckless driver will have been allowed behind the wheel until then. Harry’s parents have emphasised that perpetrators of road violence who have caused death or life-changing injuries often receive shockingly low sentences; their case is not the only one.

Not far from North Devon, my hon. Friend the Member for North Cornwall (Scott Mann) has worked for some time on an upsetting case from his constituency—one in which the Saltern family were deprived of a much-loved son, and a wife was robbed of a life together with him. The family have since campaigned for a change in the law—Ryan’s law—to try to widen the definition of death by dangerous driving. Unfortunately, my hon. Friend the Member for North Cornwall was unable to attend today’s debate as he is in a Bill Committee, but I know that he, too, has met Ministers to discuss whether it is possible to introduce a new offence or new sentencing guidelines relating to failing to stop. In my constituency of North Devon, 451 residents have signed the Ryan’s law petition calling for the Government to widen the definition of death by dangerous driving to include:

“failure to stop, call 999 and render aid on scene until further help arrives.”

The distinction between careless and dangerous driving is blurred, leading to inconsistency in charging and prosecution. In my local policing area of Devon and Cornwall, the ratio of careless driving prosecutions to dangerous driving prosecutions is 21:1. Across England, the ratio differs greatly between 1.8:1 in Cleveland and 41:1 in Essex. That inconsistency cannot be attributed solely to variations in local driving behaviours or to different environments; it points to a systemic issue in our enforcement and understanding of these offences.

[Sarah Dyke (Somerton and Frome) (LD)]

I thank the hon. Member for North Devon (Selaine Saxby) for securing this important debate. Sentences do not reflect the impact and nature of the crime in all circumstances. Family and friends should be able to have faith in the criminal justice system. Does the hon. Member agree that family and friends should be able to have faith that the punishment will fit the crime and that justice will be done?

[Selaine Saxby]

I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention and highly recommend that she digest a copy of the “Road Justice” report, which covers that point. I entirely agree that there is a real need to ensure that families feel that confidence.

I want to highlight an important campaign, by RoadPeace West Midlands and Action Vision Zero, on the inadequacy of the law around hit-and-run collisions. Also unable to join us today is my hon. Friend the Member for Redditch (Rachel Maclean), who wanted to highlight the work of local councillor Lucy Harrison, who unfortunately lost her brother in a road crash and is running the Remain and Report campaign with RoadPeace.

The rise in hit-and-run collisions, particularly involving pedestrians and cyclists, is alarming. The current laws, which allow up to 24 hours to report a collision, might be appropriate for a supermarket prang, but are woefully inadequate for serious or fatal collisions, especially as offenders potentially wait for alcohol or drugs to leave their system. The existing summary charge of “fail to stop”, which carries a maximum custodial sentence of six months, currently applies to all collision severities, including damage only; it is not appropriate for serious collisions. Two new criminal charges—failing to remain at the scene of a fatal collision and failing to remain at the scene of a serious injury collision—should be considered.

I want to draw attention to the Vision Zero South West scheme. Vision Zero’s ambition is to cut road deaths and serious injuries to zero by 2040 and to reduce current numbers by 50% by 2030. In 2022, however, there were 47 fatal injuries and 743 serious injuries in Devon and Cornwall, according to the road casualties summary. That number must come down. Although it is one of the safest regions when it comes to road safety, any death or serious injury is one too many.

Throughout the evidence gathering for the report, it became clear to me that the system has an issue with driving disqualifications. It is important to state and remind us all that driving is a privilege and not a right. When done correctly, driving can be an enormous tool for good, but we should remember that it is a dangerous activity—dangerous enough to need to be licensed.

Another flaw in the system that needs to be looked at is the fact that killer drivers can continue to drive while they await trial; sometimes that can be years, because of the delays in the courts. RoadPeace advocates for immediate licence suspensions for offenders. Of course we need to ensure that people are innocent until proven guilty but, as I have mentioned, driving is a privilege. A fork-lift truck operator involved in a fatal accident in the workplace would not be invited to carry on operating that machinery while they were under investigation. This change would not require new legislation, as guidance could encourage bail conditions to more regularly include restrictions on driving after being charged.

Finally, on the subject of disqualification, if a person kills someone through careless or dangerous driving, why should they ever be able to drive again? The mandatory driving ban for causing death by dangerous driving is five years. Why is it not a lifetime disqualification? Again, lifetime bans would not necessarily require new legislation. They happen now, although are exceptionally rare; guidance could change that.

The APPG’s recommendations are essential calls to action. We must act decisively and without further delay to reform our road justice system, protect the vulnerable and ensure that our streets are safe for all. We must foster an environment wherein every road user, regardless of their mode of transport, feels safe and is protected by a just and effective legal system.