ROAD TRAFFIC LAW: NORTH REPORT (Hansard, 26 July 1988)

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Transport (Lord Brabazon of Tara)

The Government have taken an initial look at all the report's 137 recommendations and have sought comments from all the main interested organisations. We need to take account of the considered views of others and do more detailed work before reaching final decisions. We have been able to form a view in principle on much of the report. We recognise the importance of taking forward further work urgently, given the vital role of road traffic law in efforts to reduce the continuing high level of road casualties.

The Existing Structure

We accept the conclusion of the review that the present reckless driving offences do not operate satisfactorily in England and Wales and are interpreted differently in Scotland. Change is required. There are a number of options. We will want to consider the views of others before deciding whether to adopt the detailed approach recommended by the review. We support the review's emphasis on a proportionate response to offences, marking out serious criminal behaviour and recognising the nature of more minor offences. In particular we support the full use of alternatives to prosecution—for example the greater use of roadside warnings—and have sought opinions on the detailed recommendations.

244WA Drinking and Driving

Society takes an increasingly serious view of the driver who drinks and drives. We accept the review's basic conclusion that a way must in particular be found to ensure that convictions can be secured and that appropriate penalties are available to the courts for people who drink and drive with tragic consequences. We are considering whether the review's detailed recommendation for a new offence of causing death when over the legal limit for alcohol is the best means of securing this aim. Other recommendations also have a bearing on this major problem. We agree that insurance policies against disqualification are undesirable. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry is discussing with the insurance industry how the offering of such policies might best be brought to an end.

The practicability of the Review's proposal that licensing authorities should take account of evidence of licensees persistently serving alcohol to customers committing drink drive offences needs further study. The Government will continue to support the constructive and successful initiatives we have seen recently by brewers and licensees, promoting nonalcoholic and low alcohol drinks.

We accept in principle the recommendations for court discretion to impose more points in serious cases of speeding. We accept in principle the suggestion that a period of disqualification should no longer remove all previously imposed penalty points from the offender's licence. We have decided that the points for the offence of driving without insurance should be 6-8 instead of the present 4-8. For careless driving the range should change from 2-5 to 3-9. These are changes which will be made now.

Retesting and Retraining

We accept the principle in the report that retesting of driving offenders should be more widely used. We will want to consider further the suggested criteria for retesting; the type of test which would be suitable; and the implications for the driver testing organisation. We accept that retraining of motoring offenders is an option that ought to be properly investigated to test its effectiveness in reducing reoffending. The timescale for such an experiment is long. We are exploring the practicalities of undertaking some useful experimental schemes in advance of the legislation which will be needed.

Condition of Vehicles, Driver Licensing

We accept in principle the recommendations relating to restructuring offences on the condition and use of vehicles and to widening powers to prohibit the movement of dangerous vehicles. These should simplify the law and improve enforcement. The proposals to clamp dangerous vehicles (and to use clamping in certain other circumstances) will need further careful consideration in the context of policy on vehicle clamping more generally. We agree that the driver licensing offences need to be restructured to simplify them and to reflect the relative seriousness of the different offences. The details will be addressed in further work.

245WA Availability of Information

The review suggests that government should investigate ways of providing police officers on patrol with faster access to existing information about drivers and their vehicles. We support this aim. Detailed work, some of which depends on the introduction of more advanced information technology, will be undertaken as part of the development and implementation of the second stage Police National Computer. We shall need to satisfy ourselves that the resultant benefits will justify additional costs. We have sought detailed views on the proposal that there should be a charge for checking a driving licence at a police station in order to encourage people to carry their driving licences.

Enforcement Technology

Technology has an important role to play in enforcement. We endorse the review's conclusion in principle that the use of cameras to detect speeding and red light offences is acceptable, and that satisfactory procedures can be developed for using the evidence from such devices. We intend to press ahead with testing the equipment in consultation with the police, and examining its costs and benefits in order to assess the extent to which such equipment might be used and the timing of its introduction. We accept the recommendation for a more co-ordinated approach to research between government departments in co-operation with the police in this field.

Knowledge of The Law

The Government recognise the importance of increasing public knowledge and understanding of traffic law. Preparation of a new layman's guide which the review recommended must await completion of the primary legislation which will be needed to implement the main changes to road traffic law which are now envisaged. The Government will consult widely on its content. The report contains a number of other recommendations on which we are at present consulting. We shall continue to work on all the recommendations with a view to announcing our conclusions on the report as a whole early in the New Year.