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Overview

Overview. Current situation Safer –traffic law enforcement Fairer –post crash response Investigation and prosecution Compensation and rights of victims. RoadPeace. supporting crash victims and reducing road danger since 1992.

johndaggett
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Overview

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  1. Overview • Current situation • Safer–traffic law enforcement • Fairer–post crash response • Investigation and prosecution • Compensation and rights of victims

  2. RoadPeace supporting crash victims and reducing road danger since 1992 “Cyclists beware, there is no justice. In the eyes of the law you are in the wrong, whatever happens”.

  3. Road danger reduction Different from road safety, in that: • Duty of care must be shouldered by those posing the greatest threat. • Concerned not just about road casualties but all consequences of inappropriate and excessive use of motor vehicles. • Reduce the speed, volume and dominance of the motor vehicle.

  4. Current situation • National casualties • Trend • External causes • London • Under-reporting • Contributory factors • DfT & road safety

  5. Reported road casualties (2010)

  6. Who dies: the trend

  7. Homicide External Causes of Death for the Young (2008)

  8. Reported road casualties in London

  9. Under-reporting Source: Dft, 2010, 2011 Total cost of crashes £30 billion

  10. Contributory factors (2009) Note: DfT estimates 360 killed in drink drive crashes in 2009 (80% more than the police) Note: DfT estimates 360 killed in drink drive crashes (80% more than the police)

  11. DfT Road Safety Strategy We intend for the action we take to be seen as acceptable and proportionate to the majority of motorists. (DfT, 2011)

  12. UN Decade of Road Safety Gets a racing start

  13. DfT Business Plan:where is road safety? 5 structural reform priorities 4. Tackle carbon and congestion on our roads Switch to more effective ways to make our roads safer i. Stop central government funding to local bodies for new fixed speed cameras. ii. Work with local authorities to publish speed camera data. (And these are the only two references to speed in the entire document that do not relate to high speed rail)

  14. Localism: speed reduction in Southwark Southwark Southwark with Southwark Council, Southwark Police & MPS Roads Policing Key lessons • Work through Safer Neighbourhood Teams–ask for speed enforcement from Roads Police • Ask for traffic safety and collision maps to be included in police community consultative group meetings. • Ask for borough lead on traffic safety and collision investigation • Ask for annual review of RDR efforts

  15. Fairness and the post crash response • Collision investigation and inquest • Criminal prosecution and sentencing • Civil compensation • Rights of crash victims

  16. National consistency? • Published in 2001 but advisory only • 43 independent police services • DfT estimates minimum resources allocated to collision investigation

  17. Speed estimates • Rare to get accurate speed estimates • Difficult to estimate, especially with vulnerable road user collisions • Black box data rare • Lack of technical guidance

  18. Witness statements • Empirical evidence for rapid memory decay • steep forgetting curve Cc Forgetting Curve

  19. Collision investigation in London Who investigates? Road death/life threatening collisions: Specialist collision investigator based at four traffic garages Injury collisions: Scene attended by borough police but investigated by Traffic Criminal Justice Unit based at Sidcup

  20. Inquests: lessons not learned Some 70% road deaths have inquests But… • Families hurt by limited disclosure • No training for coroners • Coroner powers rarely used • No road death verdict “accident” and Coroner reform being rolled back

  21. Criminal prosecution Key concerns for RoadPeace • Charging decision • Charging standards • careless vs. dangerous • Lack of training • Lack of transparency • Sentencing • culpability vs consequences

  22. Causing death by driving Causing death by …. • Dangerous Driving • Careless Driving whilst Under the Influence • Careless Driving • Driving whilst unlicensed, disqualified or uninsured

  23. Causing death by…

  24. Prison sentences

  25. Causing death by careless driving penalties

  26. Driving bans for causing death/bodily harm 5 in 6 drivers who have killed get a shorter ban than a second time drink driver Year: 2010

  27. Motoring convictions (2010)

  28. Civil compensation Stricter liability–civilised compensation system Reverses the burden of proof in collisions with pedestrians and cyclists, and • does not affect criminal prosecution • does not reward bad behaviour • protects children and older people

  29. Who already has it

  30. Rights of crash victims …are not the same as victims of crime Not same • right to information X • nor included in crime statistics X • right to support services X

  31. Dedicated to Barry Mason – a modern day hero

  32. Join Us RoadPeace a membership charity www.roadpeace.org Thanks to Network for Social Change for funding our work

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