Careless / Inconsiderate driving

The introduction of the Road Safety Act 2006 saw significant change introduced to deal with errant drivers including the issue of fixed penalty tickets by vehicle examiners.

New offences were  introduced including causing death by (1) careless / inconsiderate, (2) causing death and driving whilst uninsured and (3) causing death and driving whilst unlicensed / disqualified drivers.

The offences were introduced to bridge a huge gap in sentencing between offences of causing death by dangerous driving and careless / inconsiderate driving the only other option available to Courts.

In current practice the offence of causing death by careless driving is preferred in the majority of fatal road accidents due to the lower standard of proof required with a greater range of contributing features.

The business/ professional community are most at risk on the basis of the amount of annual mileages incurred.  

A potential custodial sentence of up to 5years on conviction for an offence of causing death by careless driving can seriously impact upon the professional and business community effectively taking out ‘key workers’ from an organisation.