Shropshire Advanced Motorists

The call is published in the latest edition of Advanced Driving, the IAM members' magazine, published today. Careless driving offences are currently dealt with by the courts and can be punishable with a fine of up to £2,500 and six penalty points. If the proposal goes ahead, a blanket enforcement approach will bring a wide spectrum of driving behaviours under the 'careless driving' heading.
IAM's director of policy and research, Neil Greig, said: “This blanket approach will mean that driving offences, which could have been charged as dangerous driving but weren't, could be dealt with in the same way as minor parking knocks. The IAM does not believe that this is good for road safety; it will only lead to an increase in the quantity of enforcement rather than quality.”
The call is one part of the IAM's response to the latest DfT consultation paper 'Road Safety Compliance'. The paper outlines a number of proposals on how to encourage motorists to comply with a variety of key traffic laws including drink and drug driving, speeding and driver retraining.
A summary of the IAM's response to each area of the consultation can be found below:

Driver retraining and re-assessment

o The IAM supports the proposal that disqualified drivers should be retrained before they are allowed to re-take their driving test Mr Greig said: “All too often re-taking a driving test is about behaving for the duration of the test and not changing behaviour. Retraining can actually influence a person's attitude to driving and road safety, it's therefore a must for people who have previously lost their licence because of poor driving.”

Graduated speeding penalties

o The IAM supports the Government's proposal to introduce graduated penalties for excessive speeders Mr Greig said: “It is logical to increase the penalty for excessive speeding to six points to deal with those drivers who pose the biggest risk of collision and injury to themselves and others.”

o A lower two-point penalty should not be offered for marginal breaches of for example a 30mph limit. Mr Greig said: “There must be no suggestion that speeding is in anyway acceptable in areas where crashes involving  pedestrians are more likely.”

Drink driving

o The IAM supports the Government's proposal to introduce 'targeted checkpoint testing'. The key issue for the IAM, is ensuring that the police have enough resources to use the new powers. Mr Greig said: “High profile and targeted drink-drive enforcement campaigns work. Motorists must be convinced that the only way to drive is sober and if they don't, the chances of getting caught are high. One of the best ways to achieve this is by clarifying the law on targeted enforcement.”

o The IAM supports the withdrawal of the statutory right to ask for a blood test, subject to assurances about the accuracy of present and future road side breath-testing equipment. Mr Greig said: “The right to a blood test was appropriate when breath tests first came out. Now that road side breath testing systems have proved to be accurate blood tests aren't needed. They now act as more of a loophole for drivers who hope to escape justice.”

o The current alcohol limit should be changed only after research has proven the benefits of doing so. The IAM believes that the current limit has not been fully enforced and still has scope to reduce drink related crashes on our roads. Mr Greig said: “Although a change will send a strong message, the IAM does not want the emphasis to be taken away from the worst cases of drunk driving.”

Drug driving

o The IAM does not believe that the case has yet been proved to create a new offence of 'driving with an illegal drug in the body'. More research and targeted education campaigns are needed to make the regulation of drug-driving more effective. Mr Greig said: “While there is a perception that prescribed drugs are a significant factor in crashes there is no statistical evidence to prove it. Effective road safety legislation must be well researched, as it was when making the link between alcohol and crashes. The same needs to be done for drug driving.”