HL Deb 23 October 1984 vol 456 cc127-8
Lord Monson

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.

The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will introduce legislation to amend Section 93 of the Road Traffic Act 1972 so as to ensure that persons convicted of causing death by reckless driving are disqualified for at least three years.

Lord Brabazon of Tara

My Lords, the Government agree that there should be severe penalties for those who are guilty of recklessly killing and injuring others on our roads. We have no present plans to change this particular law, but my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Transport has been giving further thought to the subject of road traffic law generally and hopes to make an announcement shortly.

Lord Monson

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for that reply. Would he agree that we are not talking about death caused by careless driving but of death caused by deliberate reckless driving, often under the influence of drink or drugs? This being the case, can he visualise any circumstances in which disqualification for as much as three years for this grave offence would be excessive?

Lord Brabazon of Tara

My Lords, the average disqualification is, in fact, of three years. The last available figures were those for 1982, during which 251 people were convicted of causing death by reckless driving. The vast majority of those people were disqualified, 67 per cent. of them for periods of three years and over. Nearly half those convicted were also given prison sentences, mostly of up to 12 months but in some cases longer.

Lord Paget of Northampton

My Lords, does the noble Lord not feel that this sort of proposal casts an unwarranted reflection on the competence of the judiciary? Can we not really assume that they are in a better position to judge the appropriate sentence, when they know all the circumstances, than we who know none of them?

Lord Brabazon of Tara

My Lords, I would agree. Only the courts have access to all the relevant facts of a particular case. They will therefore be in the best position to make judgments appropriate to those facts. The Magistrates' Association does issue to benches its own suggestions on appropriate sentences for magistrates' courts; and the Lord Chief Justice has recently called for severe sentences, including prison, for those who kill because of drink or extreme recklessness.

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