New Offence: Death by Negligence ?
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ANEW offence—" causing death by negligent driving "—should he created, state the Pedestrians' Association for .Road Safety, because of juries' reluctance to convict drivers of manslaughter.
A proposal to this effect is made in a memorandum sent to Members of Parliament before the seCond reading of the Road Traffic Bill began in the House of Lords on Tuesday. The Association suggest that the new offence be defined as "causing death while committing any driving offence."
The memorandum describes the proposal to make it an offence for pedestrians to disregard the directions of a policeman controlling traffic as "not a serious contribution to road safety." The suggestion presents practical diffi culties and should be the subject of local experiments. The proposed penalty of £20 for a first offence is described as "grossly excessive."
The Association also seek to increase the powers of courts to disqualify drivers, with compulsory disqualification for second and subsequent convictions for careless, reckless or dangerous driving, and offences relating to pedestrian ceossings.
Any driver convicted 10 times of the more serious offences should be disqualified for life, it is suggested, and suspended drivers should not be allowed to applY for restoration of their licences after six months.
Fines should be at least doubled to bring them into line with the altered value of money. No used vehicle should be sold without a certificate of roadworthiness and applicants for driving licences should be medically examined.