Recently in Motoring Law Category

New 'in-car' devices based on satellite technology have demonstrated a significant reduction in accidents among users, and may prompt a change in the law in future to make roads safer according to one of the country's largest insurers.

Telematics or black-box insurance uses a device which tracks the car, monitoring driver behaviour including braking and acceleration. The device also records braking, cornering, speed and what time of day the car is driven.

The data collected by the devices can then be used by companies to calculate the appropriate insurance premium based on usage but crucially also the quality of the driving itself.

A man caught driving a mobility scooter after consuming more than four times the legal alcohol limit has been let off from a drink-driving charge at a South West magistrates' court.

Despite three hearings, the court decided in the end that the scooter was too small to be classed as a road vehicle.

Mr James Spangenberg-Ferrelli was stopped by police officers in his home town of Tiverton in Devon. The attending police officers then asked him to provide a sample of breath, which was found to be high at 147mg of alcohol per 100ml.

During the Christmas period, drink driving tends to become more prevalent and consequently police forces ramp up their efforts to clamp down on offenders. This year in Scotland, police are taking a hard-line stance by seizing the vehicles of first-time drink drivers.

Motorists who are stopped by the police under suspicion of drink driving and refuse to take a breath test could also have their cars taken from them.

The car forfeiture scheme was initially introduced in Scotland by the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (Acpos) during the Christmas period 2009. The scheme targeted drink drivers who were repeat offenders.

Following a campaign run by the Croydon Advertiser and the family of a girl killed by a drug-driver, Prime Minister David Cameron has promised to make drug-driving laws stronger and to introduce stringent roadside drug-testing by police.

The newspaper and the Groves family campaigned to introduce 'Lillian's Law' after 14-year-old Lillian was knocked down and killed by a motorist who was high on cannabis. Three months after the campaign's launch, the family were invited to Downing Street to speak with the Prime Minister.

Mr Cameron admitted that the current laws are "all wrong" and described the Government's plans to create a new motoring offence which would make it illegal to drive under the influence of drugs above a certain limit.

Liverpool Victoria Insurance conducted research into the frequency of car crime around the country. It found that more than half of all UK motorists have at some point been a victim of vehicle vandalism, and these crimes usually occur when the car is parked outside the owner's home.

In the past 12 months, one in ten motorists had their car vandalised, which cost them around £953 million worth of damage. This amounted to roughly £260 per person.

While 54% of all UK motorists cars have been damaged at some point, an unlucky 25% of drivers' cars had been vandalised twice and a really unfortunate 10% had been the victims of car vandalism three or four times.

A con-artist who claimed to be a legitimate 'vehicle immobiliser' was found guilty of blackmail and fraud at Manchester Crown Court after committing crimes that were "a form of piracy".

Mohammed Asif Ashraf, 31, ran two unlicensed clamping companies, Clamp You and Unauthorised Clamping Solutions in 2009. He targeted quiet backstreets in Manchester city centre and employed people to seek out potential victims.

He clamped at least 50 cars and told the owners to pay £150 for their release or they would be towed. He told his victims a further fine of £400, not including storage fees, would be charged.

A man who owned his own haulage business was jailed after being caught driving long hours without taking the regulation amount of breaks, and therefore endangering lives.

Andrew Clorley, from Penley near Wrexham, admitted tampering with the tachograph, which records the number of hours driven, by swapping the sheet in the machine for another under the name of his ex-employee, Eric Groves.

However, the Vehicle and operator Services Agency (VOSA) discovered that Mr Groves no longer worked for Mr Clorley, and was out of the country, at the time that Mr Clorley committed the offences.

A Bradford judge has called for the introduction of a 'three strikes and you're out' policy that would send dangerous drivers straight to prison after committing the same offence three times.

Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC made these proposals after he heard the case of James Mellor, 25, who had been caught dangerous driving for the fifth time. The judge remanded the offender in custody for one week while he decided whether to give the man a community sentence or to send him to jail.

Judge Durham Hall claimed the case was difficult to sentence, saying: "Do I give him 300 hours' unpaid work and a long period of disqualification or do I give him 15 months?"

Ian Brown, lead singer of rock band The Stone Roses, narrowly escaped a driving ban this week after being caught speeding on a motorway.

The singer was represented by lawyer Nick Freeman, who was referred to as 'Mr Loophole' by the British tabloid press after successfully defending many celebrity clients against motoring offences. Mr Freeman has since trademarked the nickname.

Despite Mr Brown being followed on the M6 by a police car for over five miles while he drove at speeds of 94 - 105 mph, Mr Freeman managed to convince Chester Magistrates' Court that his client would face "insurmountable" difficulties if he lost his driving licence.

A new proposal calling for harsher punishments for dangerous drivers is to be introduced under an amendment of the Government's sentencing bill.

A new offence of causing serious injury by dangerous driving is planned that will carry a maximum sentence of five years as well as a fine, and it will be triable in crown and magistrates' courts.

Currently, the maximum sentence for dangerous driving is two years, unless it results in a fatality, in which case the maximum jail term is 14 years.

It was recently reported by the Daily Mail that an increase in the current 70mph speed limit on motorways could be debated in this month's Conservative Party conference.

Experts have argued that by doing so, not only would journey times be shortened but also the economy would be improved.

The Department for Transport's statistics showed that in 2010, 49% of cars on motorways exceeded the 70mph speed limit, while 14% travelled at speeds greater than 80mph.

Uninsured drivers currently make up about 4% of the driving population of the UK and the Motor Insurers' Bureau has released figures showing where the majority of them can be found.

Those who drive without insurance may do so because they believe that insurance premiums are too high, but it is their actions that force up costs. It is estimated that an extra £380 million, or around £30 per person is added to premiums because of uninsured drivers.

As well as being a financial burden on other motorists, uninsured drivers often tend to be younger drivers who have more accidents, thus increasing the risk to other road users.

A law graduate, who was about to embark on a postgraduate legal studies course, was found to be almost four times over the legal blood-alcohol limit when stopped by the police on 22 June.

Ronald Rose, 44, is a graduate of Stirling University who, in the past, stood as an independent candidate for Perth and Kinross Council and also lodged a petition with the Scottish Government recommending a system that would allow police to enforce alcohol exclusion zones.

But while campaigning to make Aberfeldy, Perthshire, a less boozy town, Rose was also battling his own alcohol problem.