IN the wrong hands a vehicle can be a lethal weapon so it’s high time that the punishment for drivers who kill fits their crime, which if Government plans get the go-ahead, will mean a sentence of up to life in jail.

The toughening up of this area of the law is one of the aims of our Stop The Danger Drivers campaign so we wholeheartedly back this entirely right and sensible move announced yesterday by Justice Minister Sam Gyimah.

Ministry of Justice figures show that although current legislation permits a maximum sentence of 14 years for the offence of causing death by careless or dangerous driving, the average sentence handed out in 2015 was in fact just under four years.

And in many cases the actual time served behind bars can be as little as half of that.

We hear far too often of the added anguish felt by families who have been left bereaved by senseless acts of lunacy on our roads as they see the drivers responsible for their losses receive sentences of that sort.

It can also be hoped that a range of tougher punishments, which also include introducing a potential life sentence for careless driving while under the influence of drink or drugs, will, at long last, provide sufficient deterrents to help reduce the toll of needless death and destruction on our roads if they are properly used by the judiciary.

The Ministry of Justice proposals now go out to public consultation until February next year and we would urge all our readers to take the opportunity to support them and lobby their MPs to do so too, so they have the best possible chance of becoming law.