UK Drivers Who Kill Could Face Life Sentences Following Law Changes
Killer drivers in the UK are set to get much harsher sentences, the Ministry of Justice has confirmed.
Causing ‘death by dangerous driving’ or ‘death by careless driving’ while under the influence of alcohol or drugs can now result in a life sentence in some cases.
Meanwhile, anyone who causes a fatal crash while using a mobile phone, street racing or speeding could now face prison sentences to the equivalent of manslaughter - in other words anything up to 14 years. There’s also a new offence for ‘causing serious injury by careless driving’.
The changes follow a public consultation launched in December 2016, which garnered some 9000 responses by the time it closed the following February. 70 per cent of people who responded agreed that the maximum penalty for causing death by dangerous driving should be upped to life imprisonment.
Speaking about the changes, justice minister Dominic Raab said:
“We’ve taken a long hard look at driving sentences, and we received 9000 submissions to our consultation. Based on the seriousness of the worst cases, the anguish of the victims’ families, and maximum penalties for other serious offences such as manslaughter, we intend to introduce life sentences of imprisonment for those who wreck lives by driving dangerously, drunk or high on drugs.”
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
we really need this in the US…
I drive a manual so its kind of hard to get on your phone when your in the city. But, for the matic users, it probably gets really boring therefore the phone is a necessity
Are you dumb? “using a phone is a necessity while driving” what the fk your license is something earned not a given and if you use a phone while driving a moving vehicle (I don’t agree with the, if you’re stopped in a car park but engine is running technically you’re still driving bs) then you’re a complete moron. When unexpected things happen, they happen quickly and you need to know what options there are for you before even being faced with a situation. The d1kheads on Facebook or whatever while driving need to have their license taken and be on buses for the rest of their lives
Driving the car is not just changing gears, its also looking what is happening arround you. If you use phone while driving (doesnt matter if your car has auto or manual) usually you focus more on the phone and not the road, and this is the easiest way to kill somebody. Good that they want to introduce this law in the UK, now I’ll be waiting for other countries (including mine, Poland) to do that as well
Oof
Being under the influence of drugs and alcohol I can understand, but speeding? Really?!
Why can’t they just fock off with their “Speed kills” mentality.
So you’re saying doing 60 in a school zone doesn’t endanger anybody ? Nice mindset
God help mustang drivers….
As I have been run over by a drunk driver a few years ago (I wasn’t hurt luckily, he hit me launching from a standstill just when I crossed the road on the pedestrian crossing in front of him, so he wasn’t going fast when he hit me),
I can only happily approve of this. I hope this also gets implemented in Belgium.
Sorry bro, it was a joke
If a person is driving under influence or distracted by facebook/texting, there is no good reason to let that person get behind the wheel ever again.
In other words, F@ck them!!! I was almost killed by a distracted driver. F@cking @sshole !@#$5^&**((&^^%%$
Good. people who get behind the wheel whilst under the influence know what they’re doing when they start driving and they know how dangerous it is. they put the lives of everyone that they drive past in danger, so they know that they can kill, yet they do it anyway. the same goes for using a phone.
This is largely how it is in the US, as people driving on drugs or alcohol or driving carelessly/recklessly regularly get vehicular manslaughter charges. That being said, I’m not a big fan of zero tolerance policies in any context. That being said as well, it’s a shame that changing a song while driving or checking a text or driving after a drink is deemed as epitomously terrible for everyone regardless of incident or severity. Some people ruin leniency for everyone. Am I the only one who feels this way? Just that crimes with no direct victim, rather offenses which are incriminated out of caution are sometimes extravagant? I know people get hurt doing these things, but in a perfect world personal responsibility would be the best thing. Too bad the world is far prim perfect haha