Careless Driving

New laws make penalties for dangerous driving much tougher

Dangerous driving

Drivers who kill others by focusing on their mobile phones rather than the road could face life in prison. In a move designed to make the roads a safer place the government is changing the law. Its aim is to ‘clamp down on dangerous, criminal behaviour on our roads’.

The government has also acted to plug a gap in the law. It has introduced a new offence of causing serious injury by careless driving. This will be punishable by up to three years prison. Here we look into what the changes mean for drivers.

Why has the law changed?

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James Foxall 17 Comments

You’re nicked! Things that can be illegal if you do them at the wheel

Illegal

She won’t be laughing quite as much if he’s fined for eating at the wheel

Most drivers are aware that it’s illegal to drink drive, break the speed limit and use a mobile phone at the wheel. But what about other things you can’t do while driving?

The action of reaching for something on the back seat when motoring along isn’t illegal. But it could risk a charge of careless driving if there’s an accident or a police officer deems it to be dangerous. And they might have a point. Research in the US has found that a driver trying to get an object from the back makes them eight times more likely to have a crash, the same as if they were using a mobile phone.

Here are six other things drivers do, sometimes innocently, that can land them in hot water with the law.

Dirty number plates

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James Foxall 149 Comments