Road Safety Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 10:"Page 2, line 7, at end insert—" ““(   )   the time of day it was committed,”” The noble Lord said: Clause 2 amends Section 53 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 to enable the Secretary of State to prescribe by order graduated penalties. The amount may vary depending on the circumstances of the offence, which include in particular the nature of the offence; its severity; where it took place; and whether the offender had committed other prescribed offences during a prescribed period. However, the wording of the clause is not restricted, which gives us a chance to question the Government on the thinking behind the criteria set out in paragraphs (a) to (d) and to probe further on why certain factors that they believe are sensible have been left out. In particular, we are concerned about the use of the phrase, ““how serious it is”” in paragraph (b) and whether it is sufficiently precise. Who will judge that? How will the judgment be made, and what criteria will apply? I believe that something specific about, say, the number of vulnerable road users and pedestrians in the vicinity at the time would be relevant to assessing the gravity of the offence, as set out in Amendments Nos. 11 and 17. Indeed, our amendments provide some alternative and additional criteria. Amendments Nos. 10 and 16 would add the time of day that an offence is committed because often it is a highly relevant factor. Amendments Nos.   12, 13, 18 and 19 are designed to deal with issues that might arise due to weather conditions. We are in effect probing the Government on whether additional factors should be taken into account and whether, as highlighted in Amendment No. 20, the offender in question has an opportunity to put forward any other information or reason why the offence was committed. In short, we are concerned that, as it stands, the clause may be too rigid to deal with the nature of circumstances that may be beyond the powers of the driver. The fixed penalty regime has proved convenient for administrators and forces and, on occasion, for the perpetrators of offences. We would all welcome more flexibility in the system. I beg to move.