newsletter - RoadPeace

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Collision letters investigation Improving the post crash response ROADPEACE organised a conference on September 22nd to discuss the current situation with collision investigation, as well as criminal prosecution, civil compensation and trauma care in London. The morning was dedicated to collision investigation and covered both scene management and follow-up efforts. Detective Chief Inspector Nick Chalmers, head of the Metropolitan Police Service Road Collision Unit, spoke about the recent changes in collision investigation procedures. Dr Lorraine Hope, from Portsmouth University, talked about a new approach to witness statements which involves witnesses (including victims) completing a structured self-administered interview (SAI) form as soon as possible after the crash, before memories begin fading or being distorted by others. It is being piloted by several British police services, including Greater Manchester, and has been found to help increase recall ability as well as preserve memory. Road safety conferences are numerous but despite the reliance on information collected from collision investigation its role is rarely, if ever, discussed. ■ Do you know what happens next? Photo: Mark Ames Fatal crash reporting research “The premise behind this work programme is that road fatalities are preventable, but only if their circumstances are correctly described and understood, so that appropriate remedial action can be taken.” So states a new TRL report summarising a pilot study tasked with developing a new methodology to improve the timeliness of the collection and analysis of key data from fatal crashes. Six police forces from the South East of England participated in the pilot which was also to feed into the CRASH (Collision Recording and Sharing) project, which involves the use of handheld computers to allow data entry at the scene of a crash, and will be linked to the Police National Computer database containing vehicle and driver information. Serious injury classification review AFTER the UK Statistics Authority highlighted the problems with how serious road traffic injuries were defined, the Department for Transport (DfT) commissioned a review into how injury severity was determined and how it could be improved. The review has recommended that serious injury be sub-divided into three levels of severity according to a defined list, but also noted that a large scale STATS19/hospital data matching exercise would be needed to test this system. Research programme ends BEGUN in 2000, the On the Spot Study (OTS) had its funding stopped this year by the DfT and the Highways Agency. It involved multi-sectoral teams attending crash sites in the Thames Valley area and Nottinghamshire with the purpose of establishing an in-depth database to be used to improve the understanding of the causes and consequences of road traffic collisions, and thus help with casualty reduction. An example of a recent finding was the relative under-reporting by police of speed as a contributory factor in collisions, compared to how often the OTS team identified speed as being involved. New collision website THE DfT have launched a new website, www.roadcasualtiesonline.org.uk which allows members of the public to perform their own analysis and examination of Reported Road Accident Statistics from the years 2004-2008, with crashes occurring in 2009 to be added shortly. The site is still under development but users can look at crash statistics from across Britain or in their local authority. Coroner reform cut back THE coalition government has just announced that there is to be no Chief Coroner and the Office of the Chief Coroner has been abolished. Nor is there to be a new appeals system. Both of these were key to bereaved families. What the government has committed to doing includes: ❚ Reviewing and updating the Coroner’s Rules ❚ Issuing and monitoring best practice guidance, including a national charter for bereaved families. ❚ Maintaining and improving training for coroners and their officers. ❚ Encouraging the further establishment of support services provided by the voluntary sector to those attending inquests. RoadPeace will be representing road crash victims at a meeting of the Coroner Service Stakeholder Forum with the Justice Minister on October 25 to discuss these developments. 6 newsletter
Criminal prosecution CPS not making charging decisions in fatal cases OVER the past year, RoadPeace has been helping Andy Auld, a bereaved father, whose 14 year old daughter Tiffany was killed crossing the road. The South Yorkshire Police decided there was insufficient evidence for a prosecution and did not pass the collision investigation file to the CPS. On the CPS website, the Director's Guidance on Charging states that the CPS are to make the charging decision in cases involving a death. RoadPeace raised this issue first with the South Yorkshire CPS and then with the CPS Policy Headquarters. Both have stated that the police have the power to decide if a case does not pass the evidence threshold and in these cases, decide no further action is justified without consulting the CPS. RoadPeace is shocked that the police are allowed to investigate a fatal crash and then have the power to decide no further action, without any external check. At a time when police budgets are being cut and collision investigation resources will be affected, there is a greater need than ever for the charging decision to be made by an organisation not responsible for the investigation. ■ Tiffany Auld Causing death by careless driving concern INTRODUCED two years ago, RoadPeace and CTC are worried that Causing Death by Careless Driving is being used as an easy option instead of the tougher Causing Death by Dangerous Driving. RoadPeace contacted the CPS Policy unit about this problem and were informed that there is no central monitoring being undertaken on how often a charge is being downgraded but that the Chief Crown Prosecutor in each local CPS area is to approve all charging decisions in causing death by driving cases, including when the charge has been altered. One example of why we are worried can be seen in the case of Alex Cameron-Young. Alex was only 17 when he was hit and killed by a taxi driver in Preston in May 2009. The driver admitted seeing Alex in the road from 100 metres away but he thought Alex was playing chicken and did not brake. He only swerved when it was too late to avoid hitting Alex. The CPS initially agreed to a charge of Causing Death by Dangerous Driving but four days before the trial, the charge was downgraded to Causing Death by Careless Driving, to which the driver pleaded guilty. Beverley Cameron- Young, Alex’s mother and a RoadPeace member, criticised the CPS in her victim personal statement and is lodging a complaint against the CPS. Alex Cameron-Young Courts closure IN an attempt to save £15million a year, the government is proposing to close 103 magistrates’ courts and 54 county courts, out of the 530 currently open. The vast majority of motoring offences, including those involving serious injury collisions, are heard in the Magistrates Court, where they have already been reported to have lost almost 15% of their staff in recent years. This is bound to add to further delays in court hearings. Nor is the situation helped by the turning off of so many speed cameras which will require more speeding prosecutions to be heard by Magistrates. Totters still driving A FREEDOM of Information Act request by a newspaper revealed over 11,000 motorists had been allowed to continue driving, despite ‘totting’ up more than 12 penalty points on their driving license. One in four drivers facing disqualification was allowed to continue driving under the ‘exceptional hardship’ provision. Of these, 90% had been allowed to continue driving by magistrates. RoadPeace argued in media interviews that these drivers were repeat offenders and should be removed from the road. Ken Clarke and Restorative Justice THE new Minister for Justice, Ken Clarke, has announced his intention to reduce the number of offenders serving short custodial sentences and to promote restorative justice. At present, less than 5% of victims are given this option. At the RoadPeace North West remembrance ceremony on 31 August in Liverpool, Reverend Martin Earle, the chaplain at Altcourse Prison, spoke about the restorative justice programme he coordinates at the prison. He himself is bereaved as his brother was killed by a reckless driver. autumn 2010 7
Page 1 and 2: RoadPeace autumn 2010 dangernewslet
Page 3 and 4: Letter Dear friends, AS announced i
Page 5: Remembrance World Day of Remembranc
Page 9 and 10: Europe and beyond Europe and beyond
Page 11 and 12: Funds Spring appeal IN March we lau

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