Pleas & Qs
Most people who have never before entered a court of law still understand that entering an early guilty plea can result in a ‘credit’, or a reduction in the sentence for the crime committed.
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When Prangs Become Prosecutions
Once upon a time a person could cause a minor accident in their car – a shunt say, or a prang – and the outcome would entail nothing more taxing than an uncomfortable exchange of insurance details.
No great harm was done and the person responsible would grudgingly accept that their premium was likely to rise as a result of their carelessness.
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Drug Driving Debate
The promise of so-called “drugalysers”, which would detect whether or not motorists were driving while under the influence of drugs, has been on the cards for years. Working very much like breathlysers do for alcohol, various campaigners, charities and MPs have questioned why police have not yet been given equipment that provides roadside readings for the presence of illicit drugs. But an interesting debate in the House of Commons last week shone some light on why there is a hold up, despite most recently the Transport Select Committee urging the government to sort it out. Read Full Article »
Too Young To DrIvE?
To mark the start of the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety a campaign to overhaul the learning to drive system in this country has been launched. Road safety charity Brake’s ‘Too Young to Die’ campaign urges the government to introduce graduated driver licensing (GDL) in an effort to curb some of the more reckless driving behaviour exhibited by younger people.
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VOSA Business Plan: Traffic Commissioners’ Independence Questioned Again
VOSA’s latest business plan was published at the end of March, without fanfare and missed by just about everyone in the trade press. It’s not a weighty document; just 24 pages to explain how the enforcement agency intends to cut costs, heave itself out of debt and continue targeting cowboy operators.
But there’s one section that single handedly has managed to resurrect the furore that erupted late last year in the Traffic Commissioners’ (TCs) camp over their independence.
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