The Sentencing Guidelines Council has recommended harsher penalties for drivers convicted of causing death by dangerous or careless driving. Coming just months after legal experts warned work-related driving deaths could offer up the first corporate manslaughter prosecutions, the new guidelines provide further impetus for employers to focus on the safety of staff who drive for work.
Under the new sentencing guidelines – which judges are obliged to follow – drivers who cause a death while using a handheld mobile phone will face up to seven years in prison. Drivers who cause a death because they were momentarily distracted by a mobile phone can also expect a prison sentence. Cases involving drink, drugs or persistent bad driving should result in jail terms of at least seven years, say the guidelines; and the most serious cases – especially where there are aggravating factors – will lead to sentences approaching the maximum of 14 years’ imprisonment. Careless driving will result in a jail term of up to three years.
The Sentencing Guidelines Council’s Causing Death by Dangerous Driving: Definitive Guideline is available to download
www.sentencing-guidelines.gov.uk/docs/causing_death_by_driving_definitive_guideline.pdf
Ensure your drivers and refers to all drivers of any vehicle be it a LGV, PSV, Plant or even a company car, do not cause death by driving because if under the Health and safety Occurrences act 2009 the Fleet Manager i.e. you could be joining them in PRISON.
The Department for Transport (DfT) estimates that up to one in three road crashes involves someone at work. This means that every week, about 200 road deaths and serious injuries involve people who were driving, riding or otherwise using the road for work purposes. The HSE and DfT are clear in their message that health and safety law applies to on-the-road work activities as it does to all work activities. This means as an employer you have to assess the risks involved in the use of the road for work and use all reasonably practicable measures to ensure that work-related journeys are safe, staff are fit and competent to drive safely, and the vehicles used are fit for purpose and in a safe condition.
Protect yourself by employing the right staff; use the Peoplemaps Driver Profiling right here at www.drivingpsychometrics.com
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