Part 1: Protection of the police etc. Section 5: Meaning of dangerous driving: constables etc.
Sections 1, 1A and 2 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (the "1988 Act") provide for offences of causing death by dangerous driving, causing serious injury by dangerous driving and dangerous driving respectively. Section 2A of the 1988 Act defines dangerous driving for the purpose of these offences. This section amends section 2A so that in any prosecution for an offence under section 1, 1A or 2 of the 1988 Act a designated person’s standard of driving is compared to that of a competent and careful constable who has undertaken the prescribed training, and therefore has the same skills, where the designated person is driving for police purposes.
	Subsection (3) inserts new subsections (1A) to (1F) into section 2A of the 1988 Act (meaning of dangerous driving). New section 2A(1A) and (1B) provide that a designated person is to be regarded as driving dangerously if: (a) the way the designated person drives falls far below what would be expected of a competent and careful constable who has undertaken the same prescribed training; and (b) it would be obvious to such a careful and competent constable who had undertaken the same prescribed training that driving in that way would be dangerous. 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 2A(1C) 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 and employed to assist a police force 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, 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 2A(1D) sets out that ports constables are not included within the definition of constable.
	New section 2A(1E) states that the test applies to NCA officers when they are driving for law enforcement purposes rather than for policing purposes.
	New section 2A(1F) 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 2A(3) of the 1988 Act.
	Subsection (5) provides that the change to the definition of dangerous driving does not have retrospective effect.