This is an in depth assignment discussing the purpose of legislation that applies to road traffic collisions, the purpose and effectiveness of the legislation that applies to road traffic collisions and the purpose of legislation that applies to road traffic collisions and the criminal justice syst...
Zoe Bella Hollingsworth
Pearson BETC level 3 national diploma in forensic and criminal investigations
Unit 11 Assignment D
P6: Explain the purpose of legislation that applies to road traffic collisions.
o Legal limits for alcohol in body fluids
In section 4 of the road traffic act (1988) it specifies that it is an offence to drive
under the influence of drugs or alcohol. This is because of the state that drinking
can leave a driver in, as alcohol can inebriate someone's inhabitations, leading to
them taking more risks, impacting their reaction speed and their coordination.
In the UK, the legal limit for alcohol when driving is 80mg per 100ml of blood,
and when a person is suspected of drunk driving, the police can ask them to
blow on a breathalyser, they usually do a blood test but use a breathalyser if the
driver cannot do a test.
If the driver fails, the test or refuses to do it then the police can arrest them. This
legislation exists because driving while drunk counts as dangerous driving (under
section 2 of the road traffic act 1988), this can then help investigators because
knowing whether or not a driver was drunk driving while an accident occurred
can help to identify who is at the fault.
Although this legislation is not always effective as people continue to drink and
drive but it has helped to make the roads safer as there has been a reduced
amount of traffic collisions caused by drivers over the legal limits.
o Drug laws
The road traffic act (1988) says in sections 4 that it is an offence to drive a
vehicle while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. this legislation is needed in
order to make sure drivers take responsibility of their actions and while driving.
Drug, illegal or legal can influence the driver's reaction time, their ability to make
decisions and control of the vehicle. All these factors can lead to an accident
occurring. During an investigation, the police can determine whether a driver
was at fault for an accident by checking if they have been under the influence of
drugs.
Driving while under the influence is considered to be dangerous driving under
section 2 of the road traffic act (1988) and can be punishable by up to life in
prison and can also help investigators when investigating a traffic collision
because they need to know whether a driver was intoxicated during the accident
to figure out who is at fault.
o Speeding
In the road traffic act (1967) it states that it isn’t legal to drive on a restricted
road (roads that are in more urban areas) more than 30mph. Most roads have a
minimum speed limit that cars can go to, and this is because most areas have
lots of pedestrians and road activity, which can increase the risk of an accident.
, In the legalisation it also states that is it the duty of the local authority to make
sure that there is a proper sign telling drivers the areas speed limits. This is
helpful to investigators and drivers as it can be used to determine whether the
vehicles involved were travelling at a speed appropriate for the area they were in
when the accident involved.
o Ages for driving
The road traffic act (1960) specifies the minimum age for driving different
vehicles. At 16 a person can drive a motorcycle and at 21 a person can drive
heavy duty cars, tractors and locomotives.
There needs to be different minimum ages for driving different vehicles as they
have varying levels of difficulty when it comes to handling them. The heavier the
vehicle the more difficult it is to control, so the more chance of it colliding with
other vehicles. So, the more advanced a driver must be to handle it.
Investigators can find this helpful as they can identify who is suitable to drive
which vehicle, this can then be used to identify whether someone is responsible
for an accident because of their inexperience in driving.
o Carrying passengers and loads
In the road traffic act (1988) regulation 40a says that it is an offence to drive a
vehicle with a dangerous number of people or an unsafe load inside the vehicle
or on top of it.
This regulation is needed because if the number of passengers goes over the
number of seats inside the vehicle, it can be dangerous to the driver and the
passengers. If a collision does occur, then the passengers not wearing seatbelts
could be more badly injured or while driving the driver could become distracted
by the extra passengers and cause an accident.
An unsafe load can be anything that exceeds the recommended weight limit or
something that has not been secured properly to the vehicle. This can be
dangerous to other vehicles as if the load becomes lose and falls off then that
could cause an accident.
When investigating a collision, investigators can use this to help determine how
much the load many have been and what effect that had on the drivers control
on the vehicle leading up to the accident.
o Tachograph instrumentation.
Tachographs are tools that help monitor a vehicles activity, like when the vehicle
is stationery or driving. They are usually attached to large and heavy goods
vehicles and the purpose of tachographs is to record how many hours a driver is
doing.
This can be helpful when investigating a collision because it can be used to
determine the speed of the vehicle at the time of the collision or find out which
route it was taking when the accident occurred.
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