Dangerous Driving (Hansard, 24 May 2002)

§ Beverley Hughes

The current offence of gross negligence manslaughter, which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, is appropriate where the driving in question falls so far below the required standard that it amounts to criminal negligence and applies irrespective of the drivers insurance, MOT or licence status. The law of manslaughter is currently under review. Our current proposals for reforming the law are detailed in the consultation paper "Reforming the law on Involuntary Manslaughter: the Government's Proposals" (a copy of which is available in the Library). The proposals do not include the introduction of a specific vehicular manslaughter offence.

If the offender's driving falls far below the required standard but not so far as to support gross negligence manslaughter, the appropriate charge could be causing death by dangerous driving. The maximum penalty

Racist incidents for all police force areas 1996–97 to 1999–2000
Police Force Area	1996–97 Total	1996–97 Per 1000 Population	1997–98 Total	1997–98 Per 1000 Population	1998–99 Total	1998–99 Per 1000 Population	1999–2000 Total	1999–2000 Per 1000 Population
Avon & Somerset	310	0.23	409	0.31	626	0.47	887	0.67
Bedfordshire	77	0.16	75	0.15	134	0.28	300	0.62
Cambridgeshire	141	0.22	147	0.23	205	0.32	519	0.82
Cheshire	92	0.11	78	0.09	158	0.18	421	0.49
Cleveland	68	0.14	76	0.16	147	0.30	204	0.42
Cumbria	37	0.09	46	0.11	45	0.10	85	0.20
Derbyshire	208	0.24	174	0.20	208	0.24	383	0.45
Devon & Cornwall	82	0.06	90	0.06	116	0.08	538	0.39
Dorset	67	0.11	86	0.14	145	0.23	185	0.30
Durham	24	0.04	37	0.07	75	0.14	178	0.33
Essex	116	0.09	160	0.12	229	0.17	431	0.32
Gloucestershire	34	0.07	32	0.06	83	0.17	258	0.52
Greater Manchester	595	0.27	624	0.28	1197	0.54	2,324	1.04
Hampshire	178	0.11	219	0.14	271	0.17	654	0.42
Hertfordshire	295	0.38	288	0.37	325	0.42	703	0.91
Humberside	55	0.07	72	0.09	111	0.14	215	0.28
Kent	256	0.18	276	0.20	273	0.20	914	0.66
Lancashire	337	0.27	311	0.25	450	0.36	917	0.74
Leicestershire	299	0.37	237	0.29	367	0.45	878	1.08
Lincolnshire	7	0.01	6	0.01	14	0.03	19	0.03
London, City of	10	1.85	6	1.11	28	5.19	55	10.19
Merseyside	162	0.13	241	0.20	324	0.26	822	0.67
Metropolitan Police	5,621	0.83	5,862	0.87	11,050	1.64	23,346	3.46
Norfolk	56	0.08	89	0.13	94	0.13	253	0.36
Northamptonshire	195	0.30	318	0.48	282	0.43	597	0.90
Northumbria	488	0.91	444	0.82	623	1.16	1159	2.15
North Yorkshire	43	0.03	41	0.03	64	0.05	96	0.08
Nottinghamshire	330	0.36	391	0.43	475	0.52	714	0.79
South Yorkshire	169	0.15	213	0.19	293	0.26	557	0.49
Staffordshire	225	0.24	214	0.23	220	0.24	404	0.43
Suffolk	74	0.13	54	0.09	150	0.25	234	0.40
Surrey	55	0.08	45	0.06	126	0.18	338	0.48
Sussex	260	0.19	298	0.22	399	0.30	934	0.70
Thames Valley	233	0.13	279	0.15	486	0.26	999	0.54
Warwickshire	66	0.15	107	0.24	111	0.25	150	0.34
West Mercia	64	0.06	57	0.06	83	0.08	464	0.46
West Midlands	725	0.32	632	0.28	988	0.44	1,548	0.68
West Yorkshire	623	0.34	644	0.35	1068	0.58	2,118	1.15
Wiltshire	35	0.07	59	0.11	101	0.19	221	0.42
Dyfed-Powys	18	0.04	17	0.04	37	0.09	99	0.23

704W

available for this offence is currently 10 years' imprisonment. This penalty is under consideration as part of the Government's Review Of Road Traffic Penalties.

As part of the sentencing framework reform, building on the recommendations of the report "Making Punishments Work" published in July 2001, we are looking at ensuring that those who commit offences of violence that carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, such as motor manslaughter, will receive that sentence if the court takes the view that they present significant risks of further serious harm to the public.