Skip to main content

UK introduces tougher sentencing for vehicle offences

The UK is to introduce tougher sentences for serious driving offences. This will focus on those repeat offenders who are driving while disqualified and cause deaths or serious injuries to others. The move comes in the wake of several campaigns on behalf of victims of bad drivers. Disqualified drivers will face a maximum of 10 years for those who kill and four years for those who cause serious injuries. The current maximum sentence is only two years for a death, while there is no specific offence for causing
May 13, 2014 Read time: 1 min
The UK is to introduce tougher sentences for serious driving offences. This will focus on those repeat offenders who are driving while disqualified and cause deaths or serious injuries to others. The move comes in the wake of several campaigns on behalf of victims of bad drivers. Disqualified drivers will face a maximum of 10 years for those who kill and four years for those who cause serious injuries. The current maximum sentence is only two years for a death, while there is no specific offence for causing a serious injury while disqualified.

Related Content

  • The hands-free debate is just one side of driver distraction
    August 13, 2019
    A debate about hands-free and hand-held phone use is welcome, but if we want to improve road safety and stop killing people it misses the point, explains Shaun Helman, TRL's chief scientist The Transport Committee’s report on driving and mobile phones is to be welcomed, for focusing attention on a pressing and growing road safety issue. As someone who provided evidence to the committee, I don’t need convincing that the use of a mobile device while controlling a vehicle is something that must be considered
  • Europe’s road safety improved for 2019
    June 22, 2020
    New data shows that Europe’s road safety improved in 2019.
  • Road safety gains were not as marked in 2011 as in 2010 according to the new IRTAD report
    May 2, 2012
    The International Transport Forum has released its IRTAD Road Safety Annual Report 2011, which reveals road safety improvements were not as marked in 2011 as 2010.
  • Research reveals rash driving road risk for young drivers
    May 15, 2015
    Research by the RAC Foundation reveals the high risk posed by young drivers on the UK’s roads. Meanwhile the UK’s Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) is calling for stronger measures on drivers aged 70 or more. Young drivers aged 17-19 only account for 1.5% of the UK’s driving population but feature in 12% of crashes involving serious injuries and fatalities. Around 20% of young drivers aged 17-19 will have a crash in the first six months after passing their test according to the study. The analysis carr