Daniel Zeichner – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will impose interim driving bans between arrest and the outcome of a court case on drivers involved in fatal or serious injury collisions where the arrestable offence carries a mandatory ban.

Andrew Jones

Driving bans are issued by courts after the case has been proved on evidence. Motorists are innocent until found guilty so no punishment is permitted. They cannot be imprisoned, fined or disqualified from driving without a court case and a finding or acceptance of guilt.

The police do have the power under the the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) and Bail Act 1976 to prevent someone from driving as a condition of police bail but I understand that this is rarely used.