Part 1: Protection of the police etc. Section 6: Meaning of careless driving: constables etc
Sections 2B and 3 of the 1988 Act provide for offences of causing death by careless, or inconsiderate, driving and careless, or inconsiderate, driving respectively. Section 3ZA of the 1988 Act defines careless, or inconsiderate, driving for the purposes of these offences. This Section amends section 3ZA so that in any prosecution for an offence under section 2B or 3 of the 1988 Act, a designated person’s standard of driving is compared to that of a competent and careful constable with the same training and, therefore, the same skills.
	Subsection (3) inserts new subsections (2A) to (2F) into section 3ZA of the 1988 Act. New section 3ZA(2A) and (2B) provide that a designated person is to be regarded as driving without due care and attention if the way the designated person drives falls below what would be expected of a competent and careful constable who has undertaken the same prescribed training and, therefore, the same level of skills. Under the new comparison, a careful and competent police driver is not expected to be a perfect police driver. The new comparison takes into account whether a careful and competent police driver, who has undertaken the same training, would have reasonably made the same decision under the circumstances. This modified test applies where a designated person is driving for police purposes (or, in the case of NCA, law enforcement purposes), and has undertaken prescribed training.
	New section 3ZA(2C) defines the term ‘designated person’ as a constable, a member of staff appointed by the chief officer, a member of staff appointed by a local policing body in England and Wales, a member of staff appointed by the British Transport Police Authority, a member of staff appointed by the Scottish Police Authority, an NCA officer, or a driving instructor employed or engaged by a chief officer of police, Scottish Police Authority or NCA to instruct those individuals and driving instructors employed or engaged by those bodies to instruct those driving instructors.
	New section 3ZA(2D) sets out that ports constables are not included within the definition of constable.
	New section 3ZA(2E) states that the test applies to NCA officers when they are driving for law enforcement purposes rather than for policing purposes
	New section 3ZA(2F) specifies that the test applies to persons engaged by the NCA for the purpose of training NCA officers or to train a person to become an NCA driving instructor.
	Subsection (4) makes consequential amendments to section 3ZA(3) of the 1988 Act.
	Subsection (5) provides that the change to the definition of dangerous driving does not have retrospective effect.