Hard And Fast

Tougher sentencing guidelines for the most serious motoring offences are having a significant impact on drivers and hauliers, according to road transport lawyers

- Chris Tindall

Tougher penalties for driving offences, with large fines and disqualification on the cards, could cost HGV drivers their jobs, a transport lawyer warns.

Vikki Woodfine, a partner at specialist road transport solicitors DWF, says a shift in public opinion on the use of mobile phones at the wheel, coupled with a feeling that sentencing guidelines were not addressing the potential harm caused through speeding, has toughened up the punishments dished out by the courts.

Woodfine also warns that even when a driver can persuade a magistrate not to impose a disqualification, the traffic commissioner (TC) may still do so in respect of the vocational licence entitlement. She says that sanctions for speeding and mobile phone use are examples “of the high standards set for professional drivers and the potential ‘double punishment’ they face if they fail to comply with road traffic laws in the UK”.

No ‘double jeopardy’

However, trade groups and another lawyer say that the regulatory and criminal justice systems are separate and that professional drivers are not subject to “double jeopardy”.

Woodfine is also urging the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to take a fairer approach and a more realistic view of culpability and harm when bringing cases to court that involve health and safety breaches (see panel).