Consultation on motoring offences sentencing guidelines published

The Sentencing Council is consulting on 12 new and revised sentencing guidelines (external link, opens in a new tab) for offenders convicted of motoring offences in England and Wales.

The Council is seeking views on the draft guidelines – which apply to adult offenders only – from judges, magistrates and others with an interest in this area. The consultation will run from 7 July to 29 September 2022.

The proposals include updated versions of six current guidelines – published in 2008 – and reflect new maximum sentences for some of the offences, including causing death by dangerous driving and causing death by careless driving when under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

The six guidelines will be updated in line with the current, step-by-step format of sentencing guidelines now used by the courts. They are the final set of sentencing guidelines published by the former Sentencing Guidelines Council to be updated by the Sentencing Council.

The Council is also consulting on five new guidelines for new offences created since the current guidelines were published. They include causing serious injury by dangerous driving, which has a proposed sentence range of up to five years’ custody, and causing serious injury by driving while disqualified, which has a proposed sentence range of up to four years’ custody.

There is also a new guideline to bring consistency to sentencing offenders convicted of causing injury by wanton or furious driving where a motorist causes injury or death off-road such as in a field or dirt track, or where a cyclist causes death or injury at any location, with a proposed sentence range of up to two years’ custody.

A press notice (external link, opens in a new tab) is available on the Sentencing Council website.