January 30, 1992, is the date which changed the lives of Carole Whittingham and her family forever.

Eighteen years on, and Carole will never come to terms with the death of her son, Steven. He was 27 when the driver of a stolen car, who had been drinking and taken drugs, smashed into his Mini as he made his way home to Heckmondwike from a supermarket.

Steven was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but the justice Carole and her family clung to as some form of recompense for the son they lost never came.

The driver served 13 months of his three-year youth custodial sentence. Carole and her family were so angry it spurred them to set up a support group to help other families of road-death victims.

“We were so incensed that Steven’s life was taken so casually and the fact that his life was worth only 13 months, we decided we’d do something which would make a difference for other victims, which we knew there would be. That’s how we started,” says Carole.

Through SCARD (Support and Care After Road Death), the support group and registered charity she set up, and CADD (Campaign Against Drink Driving) which she now runs alongside SCARD, Carole is campaigning for a change in attitudes as well as legislation.

She believes Britain’s binge-drinking culture has exacerbated the potential dangers on our roads and is eager that something is done to prevent families going through the trauma she and her family have endured in their loss of Steven.

This week, a report by legal expert Sit Peter North recommended that reducing the limit from 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood to 50mg would save hundreds of lives. Carole welcomes the report as a “huge step in the right direction.”

Sir Peter also recommends the current mandatory 12-month driving ban should be maintained for the new 50mg limit. A 50mg limit would bring Britain in line with most of the European Union.

“If the Government takes on this recommendation it can only do good,” she says, adding that her ultimate aim is to see Britain adopt a zero-tolerance approach, when drivers don’t drink at all.

“To us, that is the only sensible way to go,” she says. “We have a binge-drinking culture in this country, we need to stop it. As the beer goes in, common sense goes out. When people are drinking, they think they can move mountains.”

Carole says better guidelines are needed. “If you are driving, don’t drink, and if you are drinking, don’t drive,” she says.

As well as campaigning, Carole and her colleagues talk to schoolchildren, raising awareness of potential dangers on the roads, and of their responsibility once they pass their driving tests.

“We tell them what happened to our son and our family and talk about the responsibility they will have when they get their driving licence, and try and get them to understand that bad things can happen,” she says.

“Children today are almost in a bubble. They think nothing can ever harm them, but they need to know nasty things can happen. When you are young and immature you can make stupid decisions.

“Our hope is that eventually everybody will hear what we have to say and that we will change these attitudes, but until then we need legislation.”

Eighteen years on, the impact of Steven’s death is still felt within his family.

“It has devastated the whole of our family forever,” says Carole. “We feel very strongly that nobody should be in that situation, and we are campaigning to make sure people are not affected like we were.”

Transport Secretary Philip Hammond says: “Sir Peter’s report is a serious piece of work that covers a wide range of issues and makes 51 detailed recommendations. We will need to carefully consider these with other Government departments.

“In doing so, it is important that we fully investigate the economic and public service resource-impact of any suggested changes to the law, taking account of the current financial and economic situation.

“Our priority will be to tackle drink and drug-driving in the most effective way possible to protect law-abiding road users. We will respond to Sir Peter in due course.”