Female driver news
05/02/2009

Woman's car insurance and dangerous driving conviction

Woman's car insurance providers and road safety experts have described a jail term of 21 months for a woman who caused death by dangerous driving as "light".

The female driver had been texting on her mobile phone persistently in the two hours she had been driving before the fatal car accident on the outskirts of Oxford.

In court, she admitted to the dangerous driving behaviour, but said that she thought there were times during driving that it was OK to use a hand held phone.

Jo Stagg, for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), said, "This is a tragic case and goes to show that some people treat their calls and texts as more important than the lives of those around them on the road.

"Sentencing guidelines were recently strengthened to encourage the courts to be stricter on this type of deliberate and persistent dangerous driving, but in our view this sentence is light."

The driver was also disqualified for three years.

A spokesperson for CoverGirl, the specialist provider of woman's car insurance, said, "This kind of ignorance regarding safe driving behaviour is disturbing – a tougher sentence would surely act as a greater deterrent for others."