by Judith Cummins

SINCE its launch in November 2015 I have worked closely with the Telegraph and Argus on its ground-breaking “Stop The Danger Drivers” campaign.

Time and time again, I hear tragic stories from my constituents, their families and others from across the country who have lost loved ones at the hands of killer drivers. Dangerous driving is a scourge on our roads and sadly the current sentencing guidelines are not tough enough.

That is why a motion came to Parliament last week that called for mandatory life sentences for those convicted of death by dangerous driving, prompted by an online petition signed by over 164,000 people following the heart-rending death of four-year-old Violet Grace Youens killed by a danger driver in St Helens.

I have long called for tougher sentences for those found guilty of death by dangerous driving and this is why I spoke in the debate to get answers. Specifically, why nearly two years after promising to impose tougher sentences for danger drivers, this promise still hasn’t been actioned?

We urgently need a change in the law to make a real positive difference. After all, this is about protecting all of us, and especially our children from reckless drivers on our roads.

At present the maximum sentence for causing death by dangerous driving – driving that falls far below the expected standard – is just 14 years. Violet Grace’s killer was sentenced to only nine years and four months in prison, even after fleeing the scene and subsequently the country in an attempt to evade justice.

This is considerably less than the maximum sentence and it is a worry to us all that drivers who kill are all too often given sentences well below the maximum.

In short, the punishment does not fit the crime, and this cannot be right.

Changes to the law would ensure that tougher penalties are introduced for those convicted of dangerous driving and this cannot come soon enough. Judges recognise the inadequacy of the current sentencing guidelines and so should the government.

As it stands, families are being let down and denied justice, and inaction by the government is making their suffering worse. It is the duty of Parliamentarians to deliver tougher sentences to ensure the law of the land reflects the severity of the crime and also acts as a deterrent to help save people’s lives.

In October 2017 the government did announce, and I warmly welcomed, that it would bring in tougher sentences for drivers who kill someone through dangerous or careless driving, as well as the creation of a new offence of causing serious injury through careless driving.

Nearly two years later this still hasn’t happened. The government continue to say that they will introduce this legislation ‘as soon as parliamentary time allows’. Is two years not enough time?

Time and time again this issue has been kicked into the long grass, it is for this reason that I asked the government whether it intended to introduce tougher penalties, or had it changed its mind?

This failure of duty to protect us all is an appalling way to treat those who will know the lasting pain and loss of losing a loved one so brutally.

I struggle to explain to bereaved relatives in my constituency why the government are choosing to delay.

When raising the all-important issue of dangerous driving I regularly use this quote, from one such relative:

“The government’s delay in implementing tougher penalties has denied my family the justice that we need... The government has a duty to families like mine to ensure that justice is delivered by bringing in these new laws now, not several months or years down the line. There can be no excuse.”

Those are the words of the family of an 81-year-old man who was killed by a speeding driver in 2017. These words perfectly sum up the current situation and the responsibility that the government has to act now.

The time for excuses must now be over.

The government must right this wrong and announce when tougher laws regarding death and serious injury by dangerous driving will be introduced.

A fitting legacy to come from the tragic death of adults and children like four year old Violet Grace and these increased sentences must now be introduced without delay.