Green Party Policies : Motoring and Road Traffic Offences

Liz Voysey

Comment on Green Party Policies : Motoring and Road Traffic Offences (April 27th, 2010 at 11:21)

What exactly is meant by:
Green Party Policies : Motoring and Road Traffic Offences
“CJ365 A separate but not wholly exclusive code dealing with these categories of offence will be implemented using many of the principles and guidelines referred to above but taking account of the particular role of the motor vehicle in society.”

I have just trawled through the GP Manifesto and in particular the Justice section.

Quotes from the manifesto.
“it is necessary for society to define
certain forms of harmful behaviour as crimes…..”

“To demonstrate clearly and constructively to offenders and other members of the community that criminal acts are
unacceptable.”

“Objectives:
To reduce the amount of crime committed by some individuals against others, against the community, against other species or against the environment, with the emphasis on persuading and enabling rather than coercion”

“Sentencing practice would be constantly monitored to reveal: d) the extent to which it contributes to a reduction in crime.”

To date nothing that is being done within the Justice System is reducing death and serious injury on our roads. These are “Crimes against the Person”.

Despite years of campaigning, reasoned argument and statistics by which I mean the numbers of real lives killed/murdered(not lost, we know exactly where they are!) on our roads (approx. 9 a day!!) a succession of Governments have not only ignored but in my opinion deliberately side lined any real attempts to prevent the carnage and the devastation on our roads.

Even the introduction of a new charge of “Death by Careless Driving” did not change anything apart from the fact that the death was acknowledged where as previously if a death had been the consequence of “Careless Driving” it was considered in the eyes of the law as “an irrelevant factor” The driver that killed my daughter would have been treated the same had he crashed into a lamp post doing over 80 mph. The fact that he killed Amy was “an irrelevant factor” her death was not even recorded in the records at the Magistrates Court. Yep! Not even Crown Court even though a life had been taken because of the criminal act of another human being.

The new charge can still be heard in Mags. Court and the punishment being given for killing innocent victims on our roads can be “Community Service”. With the lack of deterrent, not being caught in the first place “serial offenders” carry on in the knowledge that they are anonymous and regard themselves above the law.

Those who are found in possession of a knife or gun because of the potential harm they can cause have the weapon confiscated and are taken immediately into custody. A driver caught doing over the speed limit by a Police Officer is often just sent on his way after a “little chat”.

The Police Manual dictates that road deaths should be treated as “homicides” but despite the fact that at a crash scene they have “The victim”, “The weapon”, “The Witnesses” and “the Suspect” those who can are sent away and asked to contact the Police at their convenience. A killer driver if not charged within 6 months will have the case dropped. The families of the Victim often have no right of appeal, they are not allowed to make a “Victims Statement” and those left behind after a bereavement from a road death are not included in the “Victim Support” Service.

CCTV cameras are used globally and covertly for the prevention and detection of crime. Yet criminal motorists site human rights and civil liberties and winge about “its not fair” if they cannot see the Police on radar duty and accuse safety cameras as being “cash Cows” and not part of a huge “Health and Safety” initiative. For far too long (and with tragic circumstances)motorists have not been held accountable for their actions or for the responsibility they have for the safety of themselves and others. Any public moral indignation and horror is stamped on immediately.

As part of my “Conspiracy theory” if you will, the Government, Justice System and especially the media have gone out of their way to play down and dismiss crashes and collisions on our roads by the constant terminology of “Accident” this perpetuates their preferred perception that crashes and collisions happen “by chance” and that no one is to blame. It’s “just one of those things”. Yet a plane or train incident is always referred to as a “Crash”. Thus ensuring your attention ,the ensuing outrage and disgust that such terrible a thing should be possible because pilots and train drivers are highly trained and constantly monitored, that planes and trains and the use of are regulated by strict H & S rules, that the vehicles are serviced and maintained to the highest level. At the end of the exhaustive enquiries into the incident a whole list of recommendations will be made and new legislation and technical changes quickly implemented to prevent this sort of tragedy happening again.. The Companies will be held to account and possibly charged with Corporate of Gross negligence manslaughter (as would a surgeon who “had a momentary lapse of concentration and killed a patient), Yet when this happens on our roads it is met with a shrug of the shoulders and “oh dear what a shame”.

The only way to make this happen is to make radical changes and bring “Criminal and Negligent Drivers” who kill and do serious harm to others to be TOTALLY INCLUSIVE within the Codes of Justice not to separate them and as has been the case for decades and regard these offences as “human error” and the consequences as “collateral damage”. Motorists who break the law or who are negligent are a “danger to society”. Their crimes should be “publicly denunciated”.

So what do the GP plan to save stop the carnage on our roads?

Liz

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