COUNCILLORS and members of the public in Bradford district have been urged to lobby their MPs to push for changes in the laws governing dangerous drivers.

Councillor Dale Smith said it was time to stop treating thoughtless and dangerous motorists with “kid gloves”.

He was speaking after Bradford Council unanimously endorsed the Telegraph & Argus Stop The Danger Drivers campaign, on the back of a motion he tabled to the authority which also called for it to support West Yorkshire Police in its “vigorous implementation of the law”.

Cllr Smith also tabled a late amendment asking for the Council's chief executive Kersten England to write to the Justice Secretary Elizabeth Truss asking for a minimum of five changes to the law.

They were: increasing the maximum sentence for driving while disqualified from six months to two years for second and further offences; increasing the maximum sentence for dangerous driving from two years to four; increasing the maximum sentence for causing serious injury by dangerous driving from five years to eight; introducing imprisonment of six months for single offences - or 12 months for multiple offenders - for no insurance, no licence or driving without due care and attention; and allowing police to use criminal behaviour orders - which carry five years for a breach - to ban unlicensed and uninsured drivers from the road.

But councillors stopped short of agreeing that with Council leader, Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, saying it was not that straightforward.

Now, Cllr Smith wants his colleagues and people across the district to join forces to lobby MPs to toughen up the law.

“We need to take action,” said Cllr Smith (Con, Wharfedale).

“As an individual, I will write to my MP asking for them to pass the amendment through to the Secretary of State for Justice.

“I urge all councillors and members of the public to do the same.

“I shall be contacting my fellow councillors to ask them to get in touch with MPs. I would also ask the public to come on board and lobby councillors and MPs to look at the sentencing laws.

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“I would also welcome the support of the T& A in pushing the campaign hard.”

Cllr Smith said the law had to be tougher to be a better deterrent.

“At the moment, we are doing it with kid gloves," he said.

“I am advised by people that know the law better than I do, that stronger deterrents are needed.”

“It is the loss of life. It is a very serious issue.

“I shall be stirring the pot to keep the issue before councillors and MPs. The law has to change.”

Cllr Hinchcliffe said yesterday: “Dangerous and anti-social driving costs lives and leaves families grief-stricken, which is why we backed the motion.

“The amendment, however, was something Cllr Smith put in just before the meeting and it looked less well thought through.

“He introduced his own sentencing guidelines at the last minute.

"We all want to see the police and law courts taking tough action against people who drive in a way that endangers life. This issue is consistently high on the agenda when I meet with senior police.

“I also have regular meetings with local MPs and recognise changing the law on sentencing is their sphere of influence, not ours as councillors.

“Victims of domestic violence, hate crime, or any other crime for that matter, would also want their views heard when it comes to the length of sentencing their perpetrators receive.

"My view is that any review of sentences nationally would need to take into account their concerns, too.”

As part of the T&A campaign we are calling for longer sentences for anyone convicted of dangerous driving; driver with no insurance to face a mandatory driving ban of at least 12 months; the standard of driver training and testing to be significantly raised; probationary driver status to be compulsory for the first 12 months after passing a test; and mandatory re-education and training programmes for any driver convicted of careless or dangerous driving.

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