EVERYONE knows that Bradford has a problem with a hardcore of drivers who think the law doesn’t apply to them.

If you work in the city centre you see them every day: revving their engines, creeping forward at traffic lights (if they can be bothered to stop for a red light in the first place) and treating Hall Ings like their own personal test track – sometimes right under the noses of the police.

They thumb their noses at the Highway Code and are an ever-present danger to other road users and pedestrians alike.

Although West Yorkshire Police is doing its best, limited resources mean the odds are still stacked in the favour of the drivers who treat our roads like racetracks.

In January, the Recorder of Bradford, Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC, said taking a hard line on motoring menaces was the Crown Court’s “New Year’s Resolution”. But since then there have been some worrying signs, including as a 28-day sentence handed down to a driver for speeding through a 40mph zone at 115mph while three times the drug-driving limit.

However, as we report today it seems the court’s message is finally starting to hit home. On the face of it, a custodial sentence for a driver whose ‘chase’ lasted a couple of minutes and didn’t exceed 40mph seems almost harsh. But Mohammad Ali’s attempt to escape ended with him crashing into an unmarked police car.

But if Bradford Crown Court really is determined are to tackle this menace it’s imperative that dangerous drivers know they can’t expect to outrun the law forever.