Sally Kyd

Sally Kyd

@profkyd.bsky.social

Professor of Criminal Law; dog lover; road harm reduction enthusiast; steel pan player.

503 followers275 following429 posts

Sally Kyd
@profkyd.bsky.social

Another petition has secured a debate in parliament: commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri... The max penalty (of imprisonment) for causing death by driving should not be increased. But how we regulate drivers and whether we let those who repeatedly risk harm to continue driving deserves debate.

commonslibrary.parliament.ukSentencing for causing death by dangerous or careless drivingThere will be a Westminster Hall debate on Sentencing for causing death by dangerous or careless driving on 28 October 2026. The debate will be opened by Alex Barros-Curtis MP (Labour, Cardiff West).
Sally Kyd@profkyd.bsky.social

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... I think many will be disheartened. I know some MPs are in favour of lifetime bans in certain cases. How can we persuade those in power to reverse their motonormative thinking here?

bbc.co.ukBereaved Sussex mum 'disheartened' by driving ban petition responseMinisters reply to a petition by a mother from Thakeham, whose son was killed by a drink-driver.
Sally Kyd
@profkyd.bsky.social

Worth reading the whole thread in context.

Joanna Hardy-Susskind@joannahs.bsky.social

I’ll give you an example. This is the Death by Careless Driving sentencing guideline. That’ll always get a jury trial, you think! Wrong. Look at the starting points for this either way offence:

Sally Kyd reposted

Joanna Hardy-Susskind
@joannahs.bsky.social

Hey. Labour MPs. And other MPs, too. Are you on your way to the Commons for the Courts and Tribunals Bill? Grab a coffee. Come over here. And pay attention. 👇🏼

Sally Kyd
@profkyd.bsky.social

I had a conversation over on LinkedIn about my use of the term Road Violence: figshare.le.ac.uk/articles/rep... But Road Violence is exactly what is described here, whether or not it results in a crash (not "accident"). Let's stop calling it "anti-social driving".

figshare.le.ac.ukLegal Responses to Road ViolenceThis Policy Briefing Paper was produced by Professor Sally Kyd, Professor of Law at the University of Leicester, with support from the University of Leicester Institute for Policy. This Policy Briefing Paper draws on research from the University of Leicester exploring the roles of the CPS and police in deterring and responding to road violence. These insights underly the key policy recommendation to reform and reinforce sentencing guidelines in response to rising national rates of road violence.
George Monbiot@georgemonbiot.bsky.social

A macho culture of performative selfishness might start on the roads, through racing, rolling coal, ever bigger SUVs ... But it doesn't end there. If we want to live in a decent country which values human life, we need to change this culture. My column. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

theguardian.comDriving that’s too fast, too dangerous and utterly lawless: why do we tolerate this petro-masculinity? | George MonbiotIn towns and in the countryside, I see 4x4s and pick up trucks driven without care or consicence. It’s a Magafication of transport, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
Sally Kyd
@profkyd.bsky.social

BTW - nowadays you can film such driving and submit the footage to the police through Op Snap. Of course, in an ideal world the police would have the resource to enforce the law with greater effect. But due to motonormativity, it's not seen as a priority for limited resource.

Sally Kyd
@profkyd.bsky.social

I quite like the self-awareness of this advert. But I don't want to watch a bunch of knobs glorifying risk-taking on the roads. Is that old age or my research speaking? I used to 'get' how fun this kind of thing was...

Sally Kyd
@profkyd.bsky.social

"The irony is that automating routine work can leave people with fewer opportunities to practise the skills they need when something goes wrong. Applied to robotaxis, this paradox is striking: the better the autonomous system becomes at driving, the less its human supervisor needs to drive." 1/3

The Conversation UK@uk.theconversation.com

The minicabs will include a ‘safety driver’, but as human skills turn from doing to watching, driving expertise can deteriorate.

theconversation.comHuman ‘safety drivers’ in Uber robotaxis could lose skills if all they do is observeThe minicabs will include a ‘safety driver’, but as human skills turn from doing to watching, driving expertise can deteriorate.
Sally Kyd
@profkyd.bsky.social

This has always been my main worry for AVs, and not just robotaxis. IF the tech is able to remove the risk of human error, that is a positive. But it's a big IF and, in the meantime, we still rely on humans who may become less skilful in the interim. 2/3

Sally Kyd
@profkyd.bsky.social

And yes, safety drivers are only being used because there is a level of impatience to get these things on the roads asap, whether or not they are 'safe-enough' yet. And they will act as the 'fall-guys' if things go wrong. We can still have faith in a safer future until the human is removed. 3/3

Sally Kyd
@profkyd.bsky.social

“That was quite human-like – really cool,” he said. “We’ve done a lot work to make sure the car can park in appropriate spots that are socially acceptable.” The anthropomorphising of machines irks me. Surely the point is these machines avoid human error. The bare minimum is to park in a safe place.

Christian Wolmar@christianwolmar.bsky.social

But there is still an operator so it's not driverless www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

theguardian.comLondon’s first self-driving taxis for hire hit the streetsWayve robotaxis added to Uber app and will have human in front ready to take over if needed – but only 15 cars licensed

Sally Kyd reposted

The Guardian
@theguardian.com

Prisons ‘one major event from disaster’ after U-turn on early release scheme

theguardian.comPrisons ‘one major event from disaster’ after U-turn on early release schemeCritics say the move, which will keep PC Harper’s killers in jail, leaves number of prison spaces ‘too close to the bone’ PC Andrew Harper’s killers will remain behind bars after a critical intervention by Andy Burnham, but the move has led to warnings that overcrowded prisons will be left “one major event away from disaster”. Announcing a U-turn on the early release scheme after weeks of intense pressure, Burnham said he understood “how strongly people feel about this issue”. Continue reading...
Sally Kyd
@profkyd.bsky.social

How is this seen to be acceptable in 2026? I have long thought that there are a number of commonalities between sex offending and motoring offending, victim blaming being one of them. But to express that view in those terms... Surely that undermines any credibility in the case he's trying to make?

This post is unavailable.
Sally Kyd
@profkyd.bsky.social

Road violence has been in the headlines again this week. I wrote this policy briefing a couple of months ago. My view: moral panics about issues like social media distract from the bigger challenge: changing society's attitudes to driving and road harm. figshare.le.ac.uk/articles/rep...

figshare.le.ac.ukLegal Responses to Road ViolenceThis Policy Briefing Paper was produced by Professor Sally Kyd, Professor of Law at the University of Leicester, with support from the University of Leicester Institute for Policy. This Policy Briefing Paper draws on research from the University of Leicester exploring the roles of the CPS and police in deterring and responding to road violence. These insights underly the key policy recommendation to reform and reinforce sentencing guidelines in response to rising national rates of road violence.
Sally Kyd
@profkyd.bsky.social

It's been clear for a long time that the law on unfitness to plead needs reform, as identified by the Law Commission: lawcom.gov.uk/project/unfi... This specific case involves a very unusual set of circumstances, but illustrates how the current law leads to injustice. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.ukSophie Brimble's family welcomes review of law after driver deemed unfit to stand trialThe UK government says it is considering changing the law around defendants who are considered unfit to stand trial.