Road safety bill will reshape road laws

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

New Bill amends road safety laws
Controversy over speeding points system
Speed camera detectors to be banned

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A new Government bill, which will shake up many motoring laws, enters its next stage in Parliament today.

The Road Safety Bill is likely to be passed later this year. It aims to introduce and overhaul a wide range of laws, covering speeding to mobile phones and drink-driving.

If the Bill goes through Parliament unchanged, it will introduce graduated penalties for speeding offences. Motorists will be given two, rather than three, points for lesser offences, which would include speeding up to 39mph in a 30mph zone.

This aspect of the Bill has already faced opposition from the leader of the key Transport Select Committee, Gwyneth Dunwoody MP. She argues that pedestrians are far more likely to be killed if struck by a car travelling at 39mph rather than 30mph.

Devices that use radar to detect speed cameras and warn drivers will also be outlawed.

Other measures in the Bill
Courts will also be given the power to fit alcohol lock devices to the cars of drink-drivers. Convicted motorists would have to provide a breath test each time they wanted to drive their car, and would not be able to start up if alcohol was detected.

Motorists who use a handheld phone at the wheel of their car will face having penalty points put on their license if they are caught. Currently, drivers only receive a fixed penalty fine.

Drivers who commit offences at the wheel of a vehicle registered outside the UK will also be subject to fixed penalty fines under a recent amendment made to the Bill. If they don't pay up, they could have their vehicle clamped.

Currently, owners of foreign-registered cars can often evade conviction, because courts struggle to track them down.

Uninsured, unlicensed or disqualified motorists who kill pedestrians or other drivers in accidents will face up to two years in jail. Road safety group Brake believes that tougher sentences of up to 14 years in jail are required, and that hit-and-run drivers should also be included.

Insurance company Privilege has also called for mandatory retesting of motorists banned from driving for 12 months or more.