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Road Safety Bill [HL]

I am sorry, my Lords; 1861 was the year I was looking for. I am not sure I can go back a century and a half with regard to these issues. Existing bad driving offences under the Road Traffic Act 1988 apply to public but not private places, and to motorised vehicles. This means that, at times, instances of bad driving may fall outside the scope of the Act because either the place or the vehicle is not covered. In some circumstances the behaviour will fall outside the Road Traffic Act but be covered by other offences. Manslaughter, for example, may be committed anywhere, as can offences such as assault. Where an example of bad driving is not serious enough to warrant a charge of manslaughter, or where death and injury is caused and the offence takes place on private property or in a non-motorised vehicle, the only offence that may apply is that of furious driving under Section 35 of the 1861 Act, to whose correct date the noble Lord, Lord Bradshaw, drew my attention. This is not strictly a road traffic offence. It is indictable only, and carries a maximum penalty of two years. Also, it applies—I note the presence of the noble Earl, Lord Mar and Kellie—only to England and Wales. It may be helpful if I set out which roads would be covered by the offence of furious driving. Privately-owned roads open to the public to drive on, as may be found in some private developments, are public roads for the purpose of driving offences. What is not covered is truly private property—for example, race tracks. The consultation on bad driving offences argued that this offence should be replaced, as it is outdated. This was generally supported, but some responses emphasised that care should be taken as the offence is still used. In addition, the consultation did not demonstrate concern that the present law is lacking. There is no evidence that there are current instances of bad driving that take place on private land or in non-motorised vehicles that are not adequately dealt with. The response from Justice noted that there are several factors that make it difficult to treat driving on public roads and on private property the same; for example, there is no requirement to have a licence to drive on private property, and there is a much lower risk of harm to others. Simply to apply existing driving licences for all vehicles to all types of property would not be justified. The Government have therefore concluded that the offence of furious driving should be left in place, but there are a few simple measures that would make it more effective in practice. As such, our Amendment No. 27 will clarify that a court has a discretion to disqualify for the offence. The clause also makes the offence endorsable where it involves a mechanically propelled vehicle. That means that it will not be possible to endorse a licence where the person has been found guilty of furious driving of a horse and cart. I offer that to noble Lords as an indication of how carefully the Government have thought through the amendment. Finally, Amendment No. 28 transposes Clause 23 on the offence of keeping a vehicle that does not meet insurance requirements to before Clause 18, so that it will be grouped alongside the two new criminal offences in government Amendments Nos. 19 and 20, which we discussed before dinner. In light of that explanation, I hope that noble Lords will accept government Amendments Nos. 26 to 28. I beg to move.