Tough sentence for motorists
Drivers who cause a fatal accident while they are using mobile phones or reading, or when they fall asleep at the wheel, should face up to five years in jail, courts were told today.
The independent Sentencing Advisory Panel says such offenders face between two and five years in prison. It also says judges should consider jailing every motorist who causes death by dangerous driving.
Falling asleep - until now has been considered a mitigating factor - should actually make the crime worse and lead to a longer sentence. Hand-held mobiles particularly will be an aggravating factor.
Panel chairman Professor Martin Wasik said: "In the past it has been treated as a reason to deal with the offender more lightly - because it wasn't wide-awake recklessness. But the panel did not agree.
"Drivers do not normally fall asleep without warning. The proper course of action for a motorist who feels drowsy is to stop driving and rest."
Welcoming the recommendations, RAC spokesman Kevin Delaney said: "We have repeatedly drawn attention to these hazards."
Motorists who kill should face a short spell in jail for even a "momentary error of judgment" or a short period of bad driving, said today's report. "Custody is definitely the starting point," said Mr Wasik. "It's got to be something pretty exceptional in terms of mitigation to escape jail."
Other factors leading to a sentence of two to five years are alcohol, drugs, racing, showing off, excessive speed, and disregarding warnings from passengers. And if there are three or more aggravating factors, the sentence should rise to between five and 10 years.
At present there is no clear starting-point for sentencing dangerous driving. In 2000, 236 people caused death by dangerous or careless driving and 207 were jailed. Average sentences were around three years.
The driver responsible for the Selby train crash in 2001, builder Gary Hart, was jailed for five years for causing death by dangerous driving after a court concluded he had fallen asleep at the wheel.
