THE Government has been accused of "shocking complacency" by a Bradford MP as she pressed Ministers on plans to introduce tougher dangerous driving sentences.

In a House of Commons debate, Bradford South MP Judith Cummins pushed for an answer on the implementation of the new sentences.

She said: “In October last year the Government announced that it planned to increase the maximum penalty for death by dangerous driving.

"The Government also said it would create a new offence of causing serious injury by careless driving.

"Six months on and we’ve still not seen any action.

"Can the Minister tell the House just when these vital changes will be implemented?”

David Gauke, the Secretary of State for Justice, replied: "We will be updating the House in due course."

His response was branded "disappointingly brief".

Mrs Cummins said: “Dangerous driving costs lives and the government needs to act now to get tougher sentences passed into law.

“I will continue to press the government to act, as this dithering shows shocking complacency on this important issue.”

Road safety charity Brake has echoed calls for the new measures to be brought in.

A spokesperson said: "Road deaths cause untold devastation to families across the UK and these families deserve justice on behalf of their loved ones.

"Last year’s announcement of tougher sentences for drivers who kill was a welcome step in the right direction, however, six months on, the law has yet to be implemented.

"This delay is deeply concerning and we urge the Government to introduce the new measures as a matter of priority and ensure road crash victims get the justice they deserve.”

The blight of danger drivers is an problem the Telegraph & Argus has fought to tackle through the high-profile Stop the Danger Drivers campaign.

A call for longer sentences formed part of a ten-point charter published when the campaign launched.

And it's a blight which Bradford's top judge has also vowed to tackle.

When Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC was sworn in as the Honorary Recorder of Bradford last year, he said punishing dangerous drivers remained an issue for the city's courts.

On a possible change in the sentencing guidelines, he said: “Two years for dangerous driving is wholly inadequate. Even in the worst case, in an absence of injury or death, you immediately cannot sentence anybody properly, sadly."