Attitude To Road Deaths

EDM number 1410 in 1994-95, proposed by Ken Livingstone on 13/07/1995.

That this House notes that the continued casual treatment of deaths on the roads is an outrage within an apparently civilised society; notes that the Road Traffic Act 1991 has resulted in a reduction of prosecutions which take account of the death, so that no more than 300 drivers a year face section 1 charges; is appalled that the vast majority of killer drivers only face minor traffic charges with fines and penalty points as sentences; is equally appalled that both Crown and magistrates' courts continue to impose only a fraction of the possible maximum sentences, making a mockery of the 10-year maximum introduced in 1993; recognises a flaw in the wording of the 1991 Act, especially regarding the 'far below' driving standard; recognises that fatality statistics take only account of deaths which occur within 30 days of a crash, with those occurring subsequently attributed to other causes, possibly hiding thousands of deaths annually; demands that the Department of Transport begin to collect meaningful statistics, which would include causation and culpability, so that the situation of the roads can be understood and acted upon in order to stop preventable death and injury; is shocked at the decline in driving standards and the grave risk all face daily when using the roads; calls for a reduction of danger at source by introducing existing technology - e.g. speed limiters and black-boxes, and for strict law enforcement; and calls upon the Government to stop the killings by providing effective measures and deterrents.

This motion has been signed by a total of 39 MPs.