Early day motion tabled by primary sponsor Barry Sheerman (Labour and Co-operative Party), on Wednesday, 22 June 2022, in the House of Commons. It is signed by 8 members in total.

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Defence of automatism for death by driving offences

That this House recognises the immense suffering caused to families of fatal road crash victims and the trauma that often accompanies the death of a loved one; regrets that many people feel let down by the justice system, especially in the way that the general defence of automatism is used for death by driving offences; observes that the use of automatism has been subject to much criticism and reiterates the findings of the Law Commission’s discussion paper published in July 2013 which recommended reform of the doctrine; calls on the Government to launch a full review of the use of automatism as a legal defence for death by driving offences and to ensure the entire justice system has the resources required to investigate and prosecute in cases of fatal road crashes.

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Secondary information

Type

Early day motion

Reference

203 

Session

2022-23

Other sponsors

John McDonnell

Tony Lloyd

Rachael Maskell

Wera Hobhouse

Claudia Webbe

Subjects

Death Accidents Prosecutions Roads

Link

View this Early day motion on edm.parliament.uk