Coroners still label dramas involving pedestrians as 'accidents' before these get to court. The Home Office states that 'the unforeseen consequences of a road traffic accident, which may tragically result in death, may be disproportionate to the seriousness of the offence and the culpability of the offender' and that 'the court's duty is to sentence the offender for what he has done, careless driving, and not for the consequences, however tragic they may be'. The victim currently does not have 'the last word'. Road safety pressure groups have suggested that new terms need introducing - such as 'road abusers' or even 'road pirates'. It has been found that in some cases drivers who have killed do not even appear in court, while in others the victim's name is never mentioned, thereby adding to the pain of the 'road-bereaved'.
Laws make no provision for including the manufacturer in traffic crimes.
Furthermore, 'road safety', or more accurately 'road danger reduction', has nothing to say about vehicle design or construction. Instead, emphasis is always upon driver behaviour. Yet in recent years many dangerous items have been added to cars - blackened windows which reduce vision and are believed to increase the temptation to crime, 'bull bars' which kill about 70 people a year, and loud sound systems which distract other road users and which can harm the driver's hearing and health. Many situations of today can, like the word 'accident', be traced to actual events. Thus Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent, the first Briton to make petrol engined cars, was also the first to be convicted of speeding.