Causing Serious Injury by Dangerous Driving: Time for a Sentencing Guideline?
| Author | Adam Snow |
| DOI | 10.1177/00220183221077259 |
| Published date | 01 February 2022 |
| Date | 01 February 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Case Notes |
Causing Serious Injury
by Dangerous Driving: Time
for a Sentencing Guideline?
R v Allen [2021] EWCA Crim 1405
Adam Snow
Law School, Liverpool John Moores University, UK
Keywords
Dangerous driving, careless driving, motoring, serious injury, road traffic
Allen was an appeal against a sentence in respect of two sentences both of 38 months imprisonment (to
run concurrently) and including 67 months disqualification from driving for the offence of causing
serious injury by dangerous driving contrary to s.1A Road Traffic Act 1988.
Section 1A holds that
1. A person who causes serious injury to another person by driving a mechanically propelled vehicle
dangerously on a road or other public place is guilty of an offence.
2. In this section “serious injury”means—
(a) in England and Wales, physical harm which amounts to grievous bodily harm for the pur-
poses of the Offences against the Person Act 1861, …
Section 1A is an either way offence punishable with a maximum of 12 months when tried summarily or 5
years when tried on indictment. (See Schedule 2 Road Traffic Offenders Act 1998) The offence is also
subject to obligatory disqualification when tried on indictment of a period no shorter than two years.
Allen was driving his car down the A68 in County Durham. The road is a single carriageway that
narrows at certain points to allow for chevron-marked slip roads in the centre of the road. At a certain
point on the road there was a marked area for turning into a farm with chevrons and broken white
lines leading up to and encasing the turning. Road markings indicated the need to exercise caution
with “SLOW”printed on the road and additional arrows warning drivers of the need to stay left. Mr
Allen ignored these warnings and attempted to overtake two vehicles travelling at approximately 45–
50 miles per hour pulling into the chevroned area. Unfortunately, Mr Nicholas Copson was travelling
in the other direction, indicating a right turn and he pulled into the chevroned area.
There was a head on collision in which Mr Copson suffered catastrophic bodily injury, including com-
plete paralysis from the chest down and eventual bilateral amputation of his legs. Mr Allen’s son was also
Corresponding author:
Adam Snow, Senior Lecturer in Law, Law School, Liverpool John Moores University, UK.
E-mail: a.j.snow@ljmu.ac.uk
Case Note
The Journal of Criminal Law
2022, Vol. 86(1) 37–41
© The Author(s) 2022
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DOI: 10.1177/00220183221077259
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