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Low risk of manslaughter charges on Irish roads
Page 14
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IRISH DRIVERS ARE unlikely to face manslaughter prosecutions for causing fatal accidents except in the most extreme cases, the country's Law Reform Commission said last week.
The Commission, which has just released a report on involuntary manslaughter, says that historically there have been few manslaughter prosecutions after traffic fatalities and it does not believe this should change.
It explains: "Although it is possible to prosecute for manslaughter a person who unlawfully kills another through their negligent, wanton or aggressive driving, most people who are responsible for road deaths are instead charged with dangerous driving causing death, or with careless driving."
The Commission says the reason for this is to "the perceived unwillingness of juries to convict drivers of an offence as serious as manslaughter".
Jimmy Quinn, spokesman for the Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA), says that if a manslaughter charge was appropriate it should be brought, but he adds the association believes that in 80% of accidents involving a truck and a car it is the car driver who is more at fault.
He adds: 'This is why we welcomed the decision to set up a specialist accident investigation unit in Ireland to establish the truth after accidents."
Although the Commission recommended no change to existing Irish law governing road deaths, it did outline possible radical reforms, including removing deaths caused by negligent driving from the scope of manslaughter or prosecuting all road deaths caused by bad driving as cases of manslaughter.