Public Petitions Committee, 16 Nov 1999

Meeting date: Tuesday, November 16, 1999

Official Report 112KB pdf

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Petitions

The first item on the agenda is the consideration of new petitions. As you can see, there are only three petitions before the committee today.

Petition 28 is from the 999 Clear Roads Campaign, which is asking for the introduction of a law that would require drivers to give way to the emergency services. The recommendation is that this petition be passed directly to the Justice and Home Affairs Committee.

I think that that is right. As I understand it, this provision is to be included in the highway code. The petitioners want it to be part of the law. They have been told that the Red Cross and St John Ambulance service support their petition. This is a very worthwhile campaign, and I hope that it is successful.

I heartily endorse everything that Sandra has just said, but we might also want to refer the petition to the Transport and the Environment Committee, given that it is interested in road safety issues.

I agree with that last point. I accept that the Justice and Home Affairs Committee has the responsibility for changing the highway code, but it would do so only with the advice of the Transport and the Environment Committee. Can we refer the petition to both committees?

That is agreed.

The second petition is from Alex and Margaret Dekker and calls for action to be taken in relation to the Crown Office's decisions and considerations in prosecuting road traffic deaths. A very serious argument is put forward by Mr and Mrs Dekker concerning the frequency with which charges of causing death by dangerous driving that are brought by the police are downgraded by the Crown Office to charges of careless driving.

As a member of the Westminster Parliament, I have had constituents who have been involved in exactly the same type of case. I suspect that a number of people in politics are aware of the problem; there have been two adjournment debates in the House of Commons relating specifically to it. The Crown Office, for whatever reason, is not applying the intention behind the law to accidents in which deaths have been caused by dangerous driving. I very much support our referring this petition to the Justice and Home Affairs Committee, with the recommendation that it be treated as a priority.

This Parliament has received a number of representations from Mr and Mrs Dekker and others in which they have underlined everything that you have said, convener. There is an organisation that is examining this issue, and I am sure that the Justice and Home Affairs Committee will be pleased to do so.

I agree with everything that has been said. Like Phil, I wrote back to Mr and Mrs Dekker when their petition was brought to my attention to express my deepest sympathy and concern for the family, in the knowledge that this happens very frequently. We need to apply the stiffest possible penalties in such situations, in which families are profoundly affected.

This is a very serious issue, and the petition should be referred to the Justice and Home Affairs Committee. The graph on the last page brings home to me how many of these cases have been downgraded—53 per cent by default. It is frightening to think that we put our faith in the justice system and this is what happens.

One of the graph's most telling indications is of how the trend has continued to decline. This is not simply a matter of annual fluctuations; every year, fewer charges of dangerous driving are brought before the courts. That is a serious problem.

I recognise that the Justice and Home Affairs Committee will pick this up, but it is worth noting that the Minister for Justice answered a series of questions on this issue. When compared with those responses, the figures with which we have been presented here suggest a lack of clarity in Scottish Office records. Perhaps the Justice and Home Affairs Committee can consider that when it receives this petition.

Absolutely. As you are a member of the Justice and Home Affairs Committee, you can ensure that it does precisely that. I also suggest that in referring the petition to the Justice and Home Affairs Committee we note that this committee treats this issue very seriously and hopes that the Justice and Home Affairs Committee will give it priority.

That is agreed.

The final petition is from the Almondell Terrace residents, asking for measures to be introduced to reduce the speed of vehicles using their road and for a feasibility study to examine the possibility of re-routing traffic to the sewage works so that it avoids the terrace. It could be passed to the Transport and the Environment Committee but it may be more appropriate for the clerk to write to the parties involved, East of Scotland Water and the local authority, asking for their views.

I suggest it would be appropriate to send it to the local authority and it is within our power to do so.

Like drinking and driving, it is a matter of getting the public to change their attitude. Every time we have a road safety issue such as this we need to send a message as widely as possible to all the agencies that may have an influence on promoting road safety. We might also want to say to the chief constable in the area that the Scottish Parliament regards road safety as paramount and that it is time we changed our attitude from one of cars as No 1 to pedestrians as first in the hierarchy, with cyclists next.

That is an important point because most local authorities change traffic regulations on the advice of the police. So we should draw the matter to the chief constable's attention as well?

Members indicated agreement.