Texting motorists face fourteen years in prison

newsguy 0 397 Views

New laws have just come into force in the UK which apply to motorists who cause death as a result of careless driving. The Road Safety Act 2006 has been changed to incorporate distractions such as changing the radio station, applying make-up or eating a sandwich while behind the wheel. It has also been beefed up so that whereas last week someone found guilty of the offense would have been facing a maximum UKP £5000 fine and some driving license penalty points, this week they are facing up to five years in jail.

It gets better, or worse I guess if you are on the wrong end of the judgment stick, if the court should decide that the distraction was both gross and avoidable. Then the charges get ramped up into death by dangerous driving territory and come with mandatory jail time of between 2 and 14 years.

Interestingly, reading or composing text messages constitutes such a gross and avoidable distraction when done over a period of time, although just glancing at a text message would be considered an ordinary distraction.

Listen, if you are stupid enough to text while driving you deserve everything the law throws at you. Especially if you take someone else's life as a result of your own lack of brain cells.

Dani AI

Generated

A short, factual update and practical note tied to the points raised by , and .

The Road Safety Act 2006 did create a new indictable offence of “causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving” and, when those provisions were brought into force in 2008, the on‑indictment maximum was five years’ custody. The change was implemented by statutory commencement in August 2008. Road Safety Act 2006

How the law is applied in practice depends on culpability and evidence. Courts and sentencing guidelines distinguish careless from dangerous driving; prolonged, deliberate use of a phone (composing or repeatedly reading texts) is routinely treated as a more serious, avoidable distraction and can support higher culpability findings. Sentencing guidelines introduced in 2008 set out tiers of culpability and harm; Parliament later increased maximum penalties for the worst causing‑death offences. Sentencing Council – motoring offences guidance. Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 (policy/circular)

Separate to causation and sentencing, the specific offence of using a hand‑held phone while driving was broadened in 2022 (the regulations and Highway Code Rule 149 were updated). Using a handheld device can now attract a fixed penalty (six points and a £200 notice) or higher if prosecuted; hands‑free use remains legal but can still lead to prosecution if it causes lack of proper control. House of Lords Library explainer (mobile phone/Highway Code). Official THINK! summary of road safety laws and penalties

Practical takeaway: do not text or handle a phone while driving. Silence notifications, use Do Not Disturb, mount navigation in a cradle or pull over safely to use the phone. If a collision causes serious injury or death, prosecutors will check phone records, CCTV and vehicle footage; outcomes depend on the full facts (not just whether a text was present). For a concrete example of how courts have used phone evidence, see coverage of prosecutions where texting was a factor. (Example: driver jailed after texting linked to a fatal crash).

Member Avatar for acejames1
acejames1 0 Junior Poster

good now if they made it harsher and more enforcing it would work all over the world because driving is the most serious issue of all things.

Member Avatar for Tricky76
Tricky76 0 Newbie Poster

I'm sure AceJames your view would be different if you lost a loved one because a motorist mounted a curb and ran them over, just because they were texting and not paying attention to the road.

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