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Causing serious injury by dangerous driving

Road Traffic Act 1988, s.1A · Crown Court / Magistrates

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Sentencing framework

The guideline outlines that sentencing for causing serious injury by dangerous driving should take into account both culpability and harm. Factors such as the driver's behaviour (culpability) and the severity of the victim's injuries (harm) determine the sentence range, with potential aggravating and mitigating factors further influencing the final sentence.

Maximum sentence

5 years’ custody

Court

Crown Court / Magistrates

Offence range

26 weeks – 5 years’ custody

Aggravating factors

  • ·Previous convictions
  • ·Victim was a vulnerable road user, including pedestrians, cyclists, horse riders
  • ·Driving for commercial purposes
  • ·Driving LGV, HGV, PSV
  • ·Other driving offences committed at the same time as the dangerous driving
  • ·Blame wrongly placed on others

Mitigating factors

  • ·No previous convictions or no relevant/recent convictions
  • ·Impeccable driving record
  • ·Actions of the victim or a third party contributed significantly to collision or injury
  • ·Offence due to inexperience rather than irresponsibility (where offender qualified to drive)
  • ·Genuine emergency
  • ·Efforts made to assist or seek assistance for victim(s)
  • ·Remorse
  • ·The victim was a close friend or relative
  • ·Serious medical condition requiring urgent, intensive or long-term treatment
  • ·Age and/or lack of maturity
  • ·Mental disorder or learning disability
  • ·Sole or primary carer for dependent relatives

Sentencing range explorer

Select the culpability level and harm category to see the guideline's starting point and category range. This is an educational illustration of the published guideline — not a sentence calculation, and not legal advice. Courts apply the full step-by-step process, aggravating and mitigating factors, and the totality principle.

Culpability

Harm

Select a culpability level and a harm category above.

The sentencing process, step by step

  1. Step 1 — Determining the offence category
  2. Step 2 — Starting point and category range
  3. Step 3 — Consider any factors which indicate a reduction for assistance to the prosecution
  4. Step 4 — Reduction for guilty pleas
  5. Step 5 — Totality principle
  6. Step 6 — Compensation and ancillary orders
  7. Step 7 — Reasons
  8. Step 8 — Consideration for time spent on bail (tagged curfew)

Guideline notes

  • Disqualification is part of the sentence. The minimum disqualification period for this offence is two years.

Always read the full guideline

This is a one-page summary. For any live case, sentencing exercise, or legal advice the authoritative source is the Sentencing Council's own definitive guideline — including the category bands, step-by-step sentencing approach, and all statutory factors not captured here.

Open the full guideline on sentencingcouncil.org.uk

Source: Sentencing Council · Crown copyright, licensed under Open Government Licence v3.0. Summary fetched 2026-06-28. Not legal advice — see a regulated adviser for any live case.