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Road Safety Bill [HL]

My Lords, I rise to oppose Amendment No. 19. In doing so, I declare an interest as a magistrate, now quite obviously on the supplementary list. The Minister was very fair when he said that he had approached various legal organisations and that they had not signified their universal approval. That is quite right. It is certainly true of the Magistrates’ Association, although I cannot speak for or represent that body in any way. I oppose the amendment with a heavy heart because nothing is more heartrending than the grief of those who have been devastated by the death of a loved one as a result of an act of folly on our roads. Heaven forbid that any of us should have to go through that. My concern, however, is that the amendment will only raise the hopes of the relatives of those who have so sadly been killed, probably only to see those hopes dashed at a later stage. As we have heard, most though not all drivers who cause death by driving do so as a result of some momentary aberration—tiredness, bad judgment, lack of attention at a critical moment, you name it—and in the vast majority of cases they will live with that folly for the rest of their lives and will remember it every waking moment of the day. Is it appropriate that they should receive a prison sentence as well? What possible good would that do other than to give fleeting satisfaction—and it would only be fleeting—to some relatives and provide another sacrificial lamb on the altar of a tabloid newspaper, as my noble friend Lord Monson so aptly said? The existing offence of dangerous driving, which is always said to be notoriously difficult to prove anyway, can and should take care of those few who recklessly and callously gamble with the lives of innocent people, more often than not when they are unlicensed and uninsured. I support Amendment No. 20 and I commend the Government for bringing it forward. It is a step towards recognising the true criminality of some people in this context. That is the emotional argument, but there are as well the practical considerations which have been set out, among others, by the Magistrates’ Association. The new clause would mean that the consequences of the driving would become the main factor in the assessment of an offence rather than the culpability of the driver, as is the case now. As such an offence will become indictable rather than subject to summary jurisdiction, it will be all Lombard Street to a China orange, to quote an old saying. Defendants will opt for a not guilty plea and trial and take their chance in the Crown Court. Past experience has shown that it is often difficult to get a guilty verdict in such cases because the jury, as we have repeatedly heard today, has taken the view, ““My goodness, that could be me””. The upshot will be that the hopes—or, rather, the expectations—of relatives are likely to be raised, only to be cruelly dashed later. Under such circumstances, the House may well feel, as I do, that community penalties, from which there are many options and combinations to choose, offer a more humane and constructive alternative. I would like us to go down that road when we come to consider this in greater detail.