dangerous driving

Letter delivered to Lord Advocate supporting sentence appeal

By RhiaWeston on 15 May 2013

On 14 May CTC’s Chief Executive, Gordon Seabright, CTC Scotland’s Councillor, Peter Hayman, and CTC’s Road Safety campaigner, Rhia Weston, met with relatives of Gary McCourt’s two victims; Audrey Fyfe and George Dalgity at the Crown Office in Edinburgh.

Letter delivered to the Lord Advocate supporting an appeal of the sentence

We met to present a letter to the Lord Advocate outlining why the ludicrous sentence handed down to McCourt for causing Mrs Fyfe’s death should be appealed. We also met with the Head of Appeals and Head of Criminal Justice Policy at the Crown Office to discuss concerns with the leniency of the sentence and the legally irrelevant comments made by the sheriff about helmets.

Minor win for cyclists as prosecution guidance shifts

By Chris Peck on 14 May 2013

In early May 2013 new guidance from the Crown Prosecution Service on prosecuting acts of bad driving was published. It includes a potentially important addition in determining what should be charged as 'dangerous' rather than 'careless' driving.

The driver of this car was charged with 'careless driving'

One of the issues that CTC has been concerned about for years has been the downgrading of cases of bad driving from 'dangerous' to 'careless' driving.

Now a change in the prosecution guidance to explicitly mention vulnerable road users may help reduce this shift from dangerous to careless.

Careless driving charge contested by the Cycling Lawyer

By RhiaWeston on 22 March 2013

The Crown Prosecution Service has a penchant for reducing motoring offences from dangerous to careless. The bureaucratic loops one must jump through to challenge this decision put most people off pursuing a complaint, but a prominent barrister has done just that.

Lorry driver overtaking dangerously close

On the Stop SMIDSY website CTC has recorded numerous cases where a driver was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving only for the CPS to lessen the charge to careless driving or to accept a guilty plea for careless driving. A swift conviction is more likely to be secured for careless than dangerous driving, which undoubtedly is one of the reasons the CPS choose to lessen the charge.

Crushing a cyclist with a lorry while on a mobile - is that really "careless" driving?

By Roger Geffen on 21 December 2012

After a week in which we learnt of two disturbing acquittals for alleged driving offences, Roger Geffen reflects on a meeting with Justice Minister Helen Grant MP, and looks forward hopefully to action to address the legal system's compacent response to bad driving in 2013.

A couple of days ago, my colleague Rhia Weston responded to the two disturbing court verdicts announced last Friday (14th December 2012).

Minister backs talks to improve traffic justice

By Roger Geffen on 20 December 2012

CTC has welcomed a commitment from Helen Grant MP, the Minister for Courts and Victims, to support discussions on how to improve the legal system's response to road traffic offences.

CTC's Campaigns & Policy Director Roger Geffen met Helen Grant, together with representatives of British Cycling and road crash victims charity RoadPeace, at the Ministry of Justice this morning.

Lenient sentencing is just the tip of the iceberg

By RhiaWeston on 18 December 2012

As the Mary Bowers’ case demonstrates careless driving charges and small fines do not reflect the severity of crimes committed by bad drivers. Sentences, therefore, need to be harsher, but we must also be aware of the large number of collisions that do not even make it to court in the first place.

The lorry driver who hit Mary Bowers in November last year as she waited at a traffic light in an advanced stop box was sentenced last Friday (14/12/12) to an eight month driving ban and a £2,700 fine. This sentence has been termed ‘insulting’ by Mary’s father, who would have preferred to see the driver convicted of dangerous rather than careless driving offence, correctly reflecting the danger of his actions.

Lorry driver in Mary Bowers case receives ‘insulting’ £2,700 fine for careless driving

By RhiaWeston on 17 December 2012

Lorry driver Petre Beiu, a Romanian national, was acquitted of the dangerous driving charge he received after hitting Mary Bowers as she commuted to work in November 2011. He was found guilty of the lesser charge of careless driving, for which he received a £2,700 fine and an 8 month driving ban.

Launch of The Times Cities fit for Cycling campaign

According to the London Evening Standard on hearing the sentence Mary Bowers’ father stated "I regard the sentence as a complete insult…inconceivable that a verdict other than dangerous driving was reached."