Health, Safety and Environment

New Road Safety Laws - Road Safety Bill Gains Royal Assent

14 November 2006

The Government's new Road Safety Bill was granted Royal Assent on 8 November after the legislation finally completed its two year passage through Parliament.

Stiffer penalties for offending drivers are on the way and in addition, the Department for Transport (DfT) said the Act would bring in measures to raise driving standards through better education and training.

Summary of the Changes:

Speeding

The range of penalty points for speeding is to be extended. Fewer points are proposed for less severe offences and greater use of speed awareness courses and retraining for speeders will be available under the new Act. The DfT said this would allow tougher punishment for those who speed the most seriously, as well as scope for lesser penalties for less severe speeding.

Increased Penalties for Killer Drivers

The Road Safety Act will introduce the new offences of causing death by careless driving or causing death by driving while unlicensed, disqualified or uninsured. These offences will carry a custodial sentence of up to five years and two years respectively, and are likely to come into law in 2007.

Drink Driving

The Act provides greater powers as the government continues its strategy to eradicate drink driving and puts in place measures to improve the training and testing of young drivers. The Act will give the Government powers to make repeat drink-drive offenders re-take their driving test and enables the future use of so-called alcolocks (alcohol ignition interlocks) - technology that could prevent persistent re-offenders from starting their vehicle if over the legal limit.

Careless Driving

The Act will increase the penalty fines for careless and inconsiderate driving, doubling the fine from £2500 to £5000

Untaxed, Uninsured or Un-roadworthy vehicles

The legislation will crackdown on motorists who use a vehicle that is un-roadworthy. It also clamps down on those who keep untaxed, uninsured or un-roadworthy vehicles. A new offence of keeping a car without insurance is also introduced, so failure to renew insurance will carry a fixed penalty fine of £100 plus the power for the enforcement authorities to clamp and scrap uninsured cars. The DfT said consultation on the detailed regulations for this scheme would be launched early 2007.

Mobile Phones

Motorists face three penalty points for driving whilst talking on a hand-held mobile phone. The penalties for the existing offences of using a hand-held mobile phone while driving and for failing to have proper control of a vehicle will be increased to include three penalty points and a £60 fixed penalty fine.

Driving Instructors

To improve the training and testing available to young or new drivers, the Act will facilitate the introduction of new arrangements for professional driving instructors in order to improve standards. It will also provide for the introduction of mandatory quality assurance arrangements in those areas of driver training that are not currently regulated, and where there is a clear need for intervention to raise standards.