Traffic law enforcement and the criminal justice system in London

Amy Aeron-ThomasExecutive Director, RoadPeace

1 November 2014

Overview

Introduction Traffic law enforcement in London Criminal justice system Reason for hope Next year priorities

RoadPeace

Mansoor Chaudhry – motorcyclist, killed in October 1990 by red light offender who was fined for Careless DrivingHis mother was incensed by the justice system that didn’t think a road death was worth mentioning RoadPeace was founded in 1992

RoadPeace – a road victims’ charity Provides support to victims Based on road danger reduction Focused on post-crash response by justice system

London road casualties

Police reported (2013) 26,000 injury collisions 29,000 injuries, including 132 deaths & 2,200 serious injuries

Pedestrians and cyclists 60% deaths (all VRU 77%) 57% serious injuries (all VRU 79%)

Pedestrian x 4 wh MV Cyclist x 4 wh MV

KSIs in London, 2012

Sharing the road but not the risk

London Fixed Penalty Notices, excluding speeding

30mph speed enforcement (2012)

By police (not cameras) Total of 7,275 Fixed Penalty Notices (20 per day) Only five boroughs had more than one 30mph FPN per day

(Barnet, Croydon, Ealing, Greenwich, Newham)

Another five had fewer than one FPN per month (Epping Forest, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Islington)

So should police decide speed limits?

London court prosecutions (2013)

Total motoring offences prosecuted 139,000

London driving bans (2013)10,131 bans given (1 in 10 convicted) offence number % convicted

banned

Drink driving 5,280 97%Dangerous driving 377 84%Disqualified driving 1,129 62%Driving w/o due care 190 7%Use of hand held mobile phone 16 <1%

Dangerous versus Careless drivingCPS charging standards (2013)

What is crime?

Driving offencesNotifiable crime

• Causing death by driving

• Dangerous driving

• Murder• Manslaughter• Sexual assault• Robbery• Shoplifting• Vehicle theft• Cycle theft• Pickpocketing• Electricity theft

• Drink driving• Drug driving• Speeding• Careless driving• Hit and run• All other motoring

offences

Impact on victimsInjured road victims Not kept informed Not supported No right to review Not even counted

Transforming criminal justice system strategy and action plan (2013-15)

All CJS organisations with shared aims Digital CJS CJS which is faster and right first time Transparent and responsive CJS Care and consideration for victims

and witnesses The right response to crime Working in partnership‘Traffic cases’ treated as high volume, low value

Reasons for hope

1. Increased TLE and inclusion of CJS in TfL road safety plans

2. DfT Justice for Vulnerable Road Users Working Group

3. Upcoming Driving offences review

4. NYC Vision Zero experience

5. Lessons from VAW campaign

Next year’s priorities

Councils Include TLE in cycling/walking safety plans Fund and monitor local TLE efforts

Campaigners Joint calls and agreed good practice Agreed key performance indicators

Next year’s priorities (cont.)

MPS to make TLE a stated priority and Include driving offences in crime statistics Link collision data with prosecution data Develop TLE strategy and action plan with harm reduction

approach focused on reducing risk to pedestrians and cyclists Monitor level of public confidence by different road user

modes and victims

Treat road crime as real crime

Thank you for listening

For more information, contact amy.aeron-thomas@roadpeace.org