25 June 2024
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Key points
- Greater Manchester’s consultation on its Vision Zero Draft Action Plan 2024-2027 includes asking what appropriate sentencing for serious road traffic offences looks like.
- Here Action Vision Zero (AVZ) highlights the sentencing statistics recently published by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to help inform this discussion.
- In 2023, Causing Death by Dangerous Driving (CDDD):
- accounted for 82% (28 of 34) sentenced for causing death by driving.
- convictions increased from 13 in 2022.
- 12 drivers were imprisoned for 10 years or longer.
- Average custodial sentence length rose by 48% from 745 months in 2022 to 111 months.
- Disqualification lengths also increased with over half given bans of over 10 years compared to only 15% in 2022.
- But very few serious injury crashes resulted in a conviction for a serious road traffic offence (35). At about 5%, this is less than a tenth the level for fatal collisions (64 road deaths and 787 seriously injured reported in 2022).
- And driving disqualifications for most offences are rarely longer than the minimum required.
- AVZ ‘s comment: Manchester appears to be cracking down on dangerous drivers who kill. But few drivers are convicted of a serious offence after causing a serious injury. Appropriate sentences are only possible if the charge prosecuted is appropriate. This requires thorough investigation and less pressure on the justice system to accept a guilty plea to a lesser charge. The latter will take time but we should be able to know how often a driver is being prosecuted for causing an injury, including by careless driving. Greater Manchester’s Vision Zero Action Plan should include a commitment to publish the investigation outcomes of all serious injury collisions.
- average custodial sentence length rose by 48% from 745 months in 2022 to 111 months.
- disqualification lengths also increased with over half given bans of over 10 years compared to only 15% in 2022.
In their consultation on their draft Vision Zero strategy, the Safer Roads Greater Manchester’s (SRGM) survey includes the question:
You asked for more appropriate sentencing for those guilty of serious road traffic offences. What do you think this should look like?
Appropriate sentencing had been a key call in the response to a survey conducted earlier in the year by SRGM. Minimum and maximum sentences are set in law and the Sentencing Council publishes sentencing guidelines which aim to balance culpability and harm (injury). In 2022, the Sentencing Council consulted on sentencing guidelines for serious motoring offences—this was the first consultation in 15 years. Revised guidelines were published in 2023.
On perceptions of sentencing, AVZ believes these are influenced by the cases publicised in the media. And these tend to be sensational rather than representative of the overall situation. In addition, there is a time lag before the impact of sentencing changes can be seen as they only apply to offences occurring after their introduction.
Here we provide the key statistics on sentencing for serious motoring offences in Greater Manchester in 2023. All data is from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) Criminal Justice Statistics, published in May 2024.
- Causing Death by Dangerous Driving (CDDD) – more convicted and tougher sentences
In 2023, of the 34 drivers convicted for causing death in Greater Manchester, most were convicted of Causing Death by Dangerous Driving (CDDD), as shown below:
- 28 CDDD (82%)
- 1 Causing Death by Careless Driving whilst Under the Influence of Drink/Drugs (CDCDUI) (3%)
- 5 Causing Death by Careless Driving (CDCD) (15%).
In 2022, by comparison, there were 21 drivers sentenced for causing death, including 13 for CDDD. So, whilst the number of drivers sentenced for causing death increased by over 50%, the number sentenced for CDDD more than doubled.
In 2022, 64 people were killed on Manchester’s roads. With 34 drivers sentenced in 2023, this suggests over half of road deaths result in a criminal conviction for causing death by driving.
Even more telling is the increase in the lengths of custodial sentences. The maximum custodial sentence was increased to lifetime imprisonment in 2022 (for crashes occurring after this date). And longer custodial sentences have soared. In 2023, 12 drivers were sentenced to 10 years or more for CDDD in Manchester. The year before had seen that the longest sentence given for this offence was just one driver who was sentenced to over eight years and up to nine years.
The average custodial sentence length for CDDD rose from 74.6 months to 110.5 months. This is a large increase of three years (48%).
Disqualification periods also rose. The minimum disqualification period rose to five years in 2022 for CDDD. In 2023, 10 driving bans were given for 5 years (and less than 10) but another 10 were given for 10 years (and less than life). So, bans and prison sentences both increased greatly for those convicted of CDDD in Manchester in 2023.
2. Causing Serious Injury by Driving – very few prosecutions
The same reform which increased the maximum custodial sentence to lifetime for CDDD also brought in a new charge of Causing Serious Injury by Careless Driving (CSICD). This was an either-way offence (can be tried in a Magistrate’s Court or in a Crown Court with a jury) with a maximum two-year custodial sentence. It was expected to outnumber Causing Serious Injury by Dangerous Driving (CSIDD) but this has yet to happen in Manchester.
In 2023, 24 drivers were sentenced for CSIDD, compared to only 10 for CSICD and one for Causing Bodily Harm by Furious Driving. And 63% of CSIDD sentences resulted in prison compared to 10% for CSICD. The one CSICD offender who was imprisoned received the shortest custodial sentence possible-over three months and up to six months.
In terms of serious injuries (787 were reported in Greater Manchester 2022), there were only 35 drivers sentenced for causing serious injury/bodily harm in 2023. This is less than 5% of serious injuries and less than a tenth the level for fatal crashes. It is possible for a less serious charge to be prosecuted/convicted with a serious injury crash, i.e. the basic offence of careless driving, but the data on this is not reported.
All those sentenced for CSIDD and CSIDD were banned. The mandatory minimum for CSIDD is two years and one year for CSICD. See Table 1 for the disqualification periods given in 2023.
Table 1: Disqualification lengths for Causing Serious injury by Driving, Greater Manchester (2023)
| 1 year | Over 1 year and less than 2 | 2 years and less than 3 | 3 years | Over 3 years and less than 4 | 4 years and less than 5 years | 5 years and less than 10 years | Total | |
| CSIDD | 7 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 24 | ||
| CSICD | 3 | 6 | 1 | 10 |
Source: MoJ (2024)
3. Other serious motoring offences and disqualifications
This blog has focused on causing death and serious/bodily injury by driving. Other serious motoring offences include Dangerous Driving, Drink Driving, Drug Driving, and Disqualified Driving. These offences can only be prosecuted at court (unlike speeding and careless driving). The number sentenced and outcomes are shown below:
Table 2: Sentencing for other serious motoring offences, Greater Manchester (2023)
| Sentenced | Imprisoned | Banned | |
| Dangerous driving | 432 | 170 (39%) | 426 (99%) |
| Drink driving | 1458 | 17 (1%) | 1450 (99%) |
| Drug driving | 1045 | 27 (3%) | 1043 (100%) |
| Disqualified driving | 479 | 125 (26%) | 333 (70%) |
Source: MoJ (2024)
Disqualification is the key sanction for road danger reduction campaigners. And whilst it is mandatory with most serious motoring offences, bans are often no longer than they are required to be. This can be seen with drug driving, where 617 offenders, over half of those sentenced, received the minimum mandatory period of one year. This same short ban period was the most common given for Disqualified Drivers (78 of the 333 banned).
With Drink Driving, bans were slightly longer with 688 banned for over one year but less than two years. But the minimum mandatory ban for repeat offenders is three years.
For Dangerous Driving, the most common ban period was for two years and less than three years with 120 offenders given this. But 24 drivers were banned for five years (or less than 10 years).
AVZ comment
The latest stats summarised here show Manchester has got tougher with the sentencing of dangerous drivers who kill. But few drivers are being convicted of causing a serious injury—or at least with a serious motoring offence. They could be having pleas accepted for the much less serious charge of careless driving. In its Vision Zero Action Plan, Greater Manchester should commit to publishing the investigation outcomes of all serious injury crashes.
For further information, including data on all motoring offences convicted at court and their sentence outcomes, contact Amy@ActionVisionZero.org
actionvisionzero.org 