Inquiry finds dangerous drivers not being prosecuted properly
- 04.05.2017
- EmmaArnold
- Personal-injury, Personal-injury
More dangerous drivers are avoiding driving bans by the court according to a new report from an all-party parliamentary group.
The group of MPs found police and justice systems are not properly prosecuting or banning motorist who have committed an offence.
Penalties given for mobile phone use had halved in the last five years and just 33 of the 15,000 taken to court were banned from driving, the inquiry found.
Jerry Smith, personal injury solicitor at PotterReesDolan, said:
This shocking report shows how just how badly the police and justice system are faliing to protect cyclists. As a regular cyclist, I see examples of dangerous driving almost every day and sadly we all too often have to act for badly injured victims or their families. Let’s hope that whatever government we have after June actually takes these recommendations seriously.
We have written in the past about police targeting cars who are driving too close to cyclists whilst overtaking.
The group calls for the police to appreciate video evidence from cyclists' bike cameras and to be more receptive of such evidence.
Hugh Potter filmed the video below a few days ago on his bike camera which shows a car cutting him up whilst on his ride into the office.
Hugh Potter, head of personal injury at PotterReesDolan, said:
Police evidence is that 98% of collisions involving cyclists are down to the driver of the vehicle. Too often it’s a case of “sorry mate I didn’t see you."