Road Justice and cycling: The importance of roads policing. Roger Geffen Campaigns & Policy Director. #roadjustice

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1 Road Justice and cycling: The importance of roads policing Roger Geffen Campaigns & Policy Director #roadjustice

2 About CTC c70,000 members, founded 1878 Cycling activities, membership services (legal, insurance, magazine) Cycling development e.g. cycle training Campaigning nationally and locally Set up Cyclists Defence Fund (now a linked charity) #roadjustice

3 Road Justice campaign Key message: The justice system s lenient approach to bad driving makes it seem tolerated and fails to encourage safer driver behaviour. It needs strengthening in order to raise driving standards, making our roads safer for all. #roadjustice

4 Campaign objectives 1. To ensure the police conduct high quality investigations of all road traffic collisions involving injury and death 2. To ensure the police and prosecution services make appropriate charging and prosecution decisions 3. To ensure sentences reflect the severity of an offence, discourage bad driving and protect the public #roadjustice

5 Roads policing A 29% fall in roads police officers in 10 years, despite little change in total police force numbers

6 Charging and Prosecution 160 Bad driving offences and KSI Prosecutions (E&W only) Convictions (E&W only) 80 Killed and seriously injured (GB) Offences: - careless driving - dangerous driving - causing death by dangerous driving - causing death by careless driving A 77% drop in bad driving convictions, despite only a 58% drop in fatal / serious injuries

7 Charging and Prosecution Causing death by dangerous and careless driving: Dangerous - prosecutions Careless - prosecutions Dangerous - convictions Careless - convictions Causing death prosecutions/convictions are now mostly careless - so 93.5% of fatal collisions do NOT involve dangerous driving(??)

8 Sentencing 110% Casualties and disqualifications % Road casualties down 21% 90% 80% 70% Disqualifications down 47% 60% 50% All casualties Disqualifications 40% Source - Criminal Statistics Volume 6 Supplementary Motoring Tables

9 3 Road Justice booklets Each contains analysis of the problems, human stories exemplifying these, and recommendations for action

10 Problems with Roads Policing Poor collision investigations Tendency to blame the victim Tendency to charge for weak offences or not charge at all Lack of transparency over charging decisions Little support for victims But fundamentally, a lack of resources!

11 Cait s story Previously cycled 20m/day Lorry it her in rush-hour on London cycle superhighway Leg caught under wheels Needs daily treatment, can t cycle, difficulty carrying things up stairs or playing with children Police found no witnesses, failed to check CCTV No charge due to lack of evidence

12 Dan s story Hit on dark a.m. while riding to by 70- yo driver making illegal manoeuvre. Spinal cord broken, severed artery caused stroke, 6 week induced coma. Driver s eyesight not tested (Dan s family told it had been), reflective clothing binned. Police report to CPS didn t mention reflective clothing, claimed his lighting was inadequate. CPS decided prosecution was not in public interest, citing poor lighting.

13 Roads Policing: recommendations 1. Investigation Attend all crash scenes Evidence-gathering: use RDIM for serious injuries too, witnesses/statements Facilitate collision and near-miss reporting, including online e.g. Roadsafe London and Operation Crackdown Investigate possible ancilliary offences e.g. eyesight, mobile Investigate all bad driving claims, not just injuries

14 Roads Policing: recommendations (cont d) 2. Resources and training Priority / resources for roads policing, nationally / locally Training: Officers/PCSOs, traffic police, investigators, FLOs 3. Victim support and accountability Treat road crash victims as crime victims Avoid assumption that victim is at fault

15 Roads Policing: campaign activities Published booklet Petition: 12,000+ signatures supporting its recommendations Booklet delivered to Home Office, ACPO and by local campaigners to police forces / PCCs Map of responses

16 Wider campaign activities Recording cases of bad driving on Road Justice website Liaising with Government and other bodies (police, CPS, Sentencing Council, plus other safety / vulnerable road user groups) via DfT-led Vulnerable Road Users Working Group Pressing MoJ to review road traffic laws and sentencing (they agreed!) Urging DfT/MoJ to link STATS19 and Crime Stats (still working on this!) Sentencing debate last summer: attendees included QCs, academics, Met Police, HO, MoJ, CPS, Sentencing Council Local campaigner training: engaging with police / PCCs, following cases Researching presumed liability laws Briefings on cycling and the law: Providing post-crash advice Fights cases of injustice with support of Cyclists Defence Fund

17 Road Justice and cycling Roger Geffen Campaigns & Policy Director / roger.geffen@ctc.org.uk / #roadjustice