Bereaved families’ impact statements welcomed by Brake
Brake, the national road safety charity, has welcomed the expansion of a Government pilot scheme allowing families bereaved by murder and manslaughter to have an impact statement read out in court.
From today, the Victim’s Advocate scheme will be extended to bereaved families in cases of ‘causing death by dangerous driving’ and rolled out across all courts in England and Wales.
This will give families the opportunity to prepare a statement describing the impact of their loved one’s death, which is read out in court for them by a Victim’s Advocate, before sentencing takes place.
Brake is calling on Government to roll out the scheme further when new charges of ‘causing death by careless driving’ and ‘causing death by driving
Unlicensed, disqualified, uninsured’ come into force. These charges were introduced in the Road Safety Act 2006, but are awaiting a commencement date.
I concur fully with this as the sudden, violent death of a loved one at the hands of a dangerous driver does have a devastating impact and it is crucial that families are given the opportunity to let courts know of the shock and horror they are suffering.
Perhaps these statements should be sent out with every provisional licence to stop would be offenders before it is too late.
FemaleFirst Jackie Violet