Inquests Into Road Deaths

EDM number 1411 in 1994-95, proposed by Ken Livingstone on 13/07/1995.

That this House notes that the lack of quality investigations at inquests into road deaths means that those inquests are pointless procedures which do not ensure that similar deaths are prevented; is shocked that frequently drivers involved in the crash are allowed to remain totally silent, not having even been sworn in, at the request of insurance companies; is concerned that drivers may not attend when not subpoenaed and that inquests are even held in their absence; is equally concerned that coroners do keep abreast of developments in the road safety field; is appalled that most families receive no information of their rights in respect of post-mortems or legal representations and that they are often denied access to statements, witness lists, transcripts or other information; is appalled at the cost of frequently inadequate material to families; notes that, often in blatant contradiction to the evidence, the inquest verdict in respect of road deaths is invariably Accidental Death and that no separate statistics are kept by the Home Office in respect of road deaths; is deeply concerned that coroners are breaking the law when holding inquests after summary charges and not calling juries when the Coroners Act compels them to do so; is alarmed that neither the Home Office, nor the Lord Chancellor's Department nor the Parliamentary Ombudsman are apparently responsible for dealing with complaints about coroners; and calls for an effective complaints mechanism in respect of inquests in order to protect the public.

This motion has been signed by a total of 35 MPs.