Causing Death By Careless Driving

EDM number 870 in 1993-94, proposed by Robert Maclennan on 16/03/1994.

That this House notes the petition of over 40,000 signatures collected by the Reed family of Teesside following the death of their two daughters, Rachel and Maria, and the severe disabling of a third girl, Leigh-Ann Johns, caused by a drunk driver; welcomes the recent doubling of the maximum sentences available under the Road Traffic Act 1991 to 10 years, but notes that a person who has caused death by driving whilst under the influence of drugs or alcohol can alternatively be tried for manslaughter; assents to the view expressed by Lord Roskill in 1972, and confirmed in the 1985 review of the Road Traffic Law (the North Report), that manslaughter charges should only be brought in exceptional cases; notes that currently, even in those cases which appear to be exceptional, manslaughter charges are not being brought against offenders; and calls upon Her Majesty's Government to undertake a review of the use of manslaughter and to clarify the definition of exceptional cases in the light of this.

This motion has been signed by a total of 22 MPs.