Roger has signed up for the Stop Dangerous Drivers campaign-StopDangerousDrivers.com - and has written to the Lord Chancellor asking him to submit a proposal to the Sentencing Council to review the guidelines for Causing Death by Dangerous Driving and abolish the lesser offence of Causing Death by Careless Driving leaving Causing Death by Dangerous Driving as the appropriate charge for drivers that kill.
He said: “The maximum sentence available was increased to 14 years in 2004 but Judges still say they are constrained by "sentencing guidelines", which make it difficult for them to hand out the tough sentences which are appropriate for drivers who kill. In addition, many offenders are only charged of the lesser offence of "Causing Death by Careless Driving", even when the more serious charge would be more appropriate. Of those convicted in 2011, one in three killer drivers did not go to jail at all; only one in ten received more than 5 years.”

He concluded: “I am sure that many families who have suffered the loss of a loved one in this way feel that justice is not being done. I thought that changes in legislation had overcome the problems with sentencing which have existed for a number of years but this would appear not to be the case and I hope that the Lord Chancellor will take this opportunity to look at how the law is actually working and give Judges the flexibility they need.”

This article appeared in the December edition of Roger's newsletter 'Postcard from Parliament'