Legal loopholes + learner drivers + dangerous roads = tragedy

BBC's Law in Action this afternoon identified a remarkable loophole in Road Traffic law.

Martyn Burridge father of Chantelle Burridge (pic) told how his daughter was a passenger in a Nissan Sunny on August, 2005, which crashed on the B1502 Stanstead Road at Great Amwell.She subsequently died 4 weeks after her 17th birthday.

The driver, 20 yr old Daniel Lancaster who had recently qualified ,was prosecuted for driving without due care and attention, was fined £200 and was suspended from driving for 6 months. In a conversation with a CPS lawyer at the trial, Chantelle's father discovered hat the driver had run up 9 penalty points on his licence prior to passing his test.(More here)

Any recently qualified driver who runs up 6 penalty points within 2 years of passing the driving test automatically lose their licence for 6 months under the The New Driver's Act 1997. Paradoxically this penalty does not apply to pre-test drivers, nor do any penalty points "carry over" on passing the test.

Nick Freeman, notoriously the lawyer the rich and famous turn to to retain their licnce was interviewed and said;

"There isn't any fairness in the system when you can amass 11 points on a provisional licence, take the test and drive."

The Department of Transport issued a statement to the BBC which said: "We are looking carefully at whether there is a case for automatic disqualification of provisional licence holders before they accrue 12 points."

Perhaps a coincidence but the House of Commons yesterday were considering the Road Safety Bill especially Clause 6 - Immediate suspension and revocation of drivers’ licences ... plenty about taxicabs but nothing about provisional driving licence holders.

Nick Freeman again , poacher turned gamekeeper ..."It's a loophole that needs to be plugged."

A maze is being built (grown?) Chantelle’s monkey maze, built in 9 acres of Hertfordshire Countryside with 4 miles of paths in the shape of a giant albino gorilla named Snowflake - Chantelle loved monkeys. It was Commissioned by Martyn Burridge in her memory and designed by the worlds leading maze designer Adrian Fisher and his team.

A website has been set up http://www.chantelleburridge.co.uk/ to campaign for a change in the Road Traffic (new drivers) Act 1995 you can sign a petition (website - 380 signatories to date) and any Monies collected from the Chantelle Burridge Memorial Fund will be donated to the ITU (intensive care unit) at the Princess Alexander Hospital , Harlow.

Numbing Postscript

Two adults and a toddler were killed in a later three-vehicle collision, which occurred on the same dangerous bend where Chantelle was killed.

News Editor of the Hertfordshire Mercury News editor Paul Brackley said: “It is obvious to anyone who uses this road that this bend is dangerous, yet it has taken Hertfordshire Highways more than a year to complete a report into it.

Any action to make the road safer will not be taken until the financial year 2007-08, meaning two years could have passed since the teenager’s death before work is carried out.

The Hertfordshire Mercury report another accident on September 29th 2006 at the same spot.