Accessible Academics:
Professor Sally Kyd
As a professor of law specialising in criminal law and criminal justice,
my main area of interest is in road traffic offences. I became interested
in driving offences after conducting a project on homicide (murder and
manslaughter), and developed that interest through my PhD on Criminal
Charges Brought in Road Death Incidents (2004), after which my interest
broadened and I published a book entitled Driving Offences: Law, Policy and
Practice with Ashgate in 2008.
Sally says…
“The theory behind the
law in books may be of
academic interest but,
without exploring how
the law is interpreted and
applied in practice, the
theory is of limited value.
In seeking to explore the
ability of the criminal law
to achieve behavioural
change
and
reduce
harm on the roads, I see
working with practitioners
as essential as well as
fascinating.”
In 2011-12, I held an AHRC Early Career Fellowship funding a project to
examine how the new causing death by driving offences created by the
Road Safety Act 2006 had been operating in practice, with further funding
from the Society of Legal Scholars. Most recently I have been working
with Dr Steven Cammiss on a project funded by the Road Safety Trust
exploring the enforcement of endangerment offences such as careless and
dangerous driving which seeks to identify best practice in roads policing.
My work seeks to understand if and how the theory behind the law
translates into practice, and whether the law can achieve what it sets out
to do. My socio-legal approach has had the benefit of input from those
working within the criminal justice system in relation to road traffic offences,
particularly the police and Crown Prosecution Service.
Contact Sally:
Email:
sally.kyd@le.ac.uk
Expertise:
•2 Criminal Law
•2 Causing Death
•2 Dangerous Driving
•2 Careless Driving
•2 Manslaughter
•2 Third Party Evidence
•2 Enforcement
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