England, Wales and Scotland[edit]
Statute[edit]
This offence is created by section 2 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (as substituted by section 1 of the Road Traffic Act 1991[1]):
Northern Ireland[edit]
Statute[edit]
This offence is created by article 10 of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 (S.I. 1995/2994 (N.I.)).
Prevention[edit]
Research now shows ways to reduce the intentions of people to binge drink or engage in dangerous driving. A key article by Martin, Lee, Weeks and Kaya (2013) suggests that understanding consumer personality and how people view others is important. People were shown ads talking of the harmful effects of binge drinking. People who valued close friends as a sense of who they are, were less likely to want to binge drink after seeing an ad featuring them and a close friend. People who were loners or who did not see close friends important to their sense of who they were reacted better to ads featuring an individual. A similar pattern was shown for ads showing a person driving at dangerous speeds. This suggests ads showing potential harm to citizens from binge drinking or dangerous driving are less effective than ads highlighting a person's close friends.[8][9]
Canada[edit]
The offence[edit]
The offence of "dangerous operation of a conveyance" is created by section 320.13(1) of the Criminal Code.[10] A "conveyance" is defined as "a motor vehicle, a vessel, an aircraft or railway equipment".[11] The actus reus of the offence is "driving in a manner dangerous to the public, having regard to all the circumstances".[12] The mens rea of the offence is "that the degree of care exercised by the accused was a marked departure from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe in the accused’s circumstances".[12]
Excluding causing death or bodily harm by dangerous driving[edit]
The equivalent, under the country's Criminal Code, to "dangerous driving", is Dangerous Operation of a Motor Vehicle. The offence can be tried summarily or on indictment. The maximum prison sentences that can be imposed are: