The justice secretary Jack Straw has proposed increasing the current two-year maximum jail term for dangerous driving to five years.
Mr Straw said reckless drivers who leave victims with serious injuries should get tougher punishments. "We have listened to the innocent victims of dangerous drivers, their families and road safety groups and their experiences have directly informed these changes,” he said.
"However, introducing new laws takes time and so this cannot be put on the statute book immediately. This is inevitable when amendments to primary legislation are necessary, as in this case.”
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Increasing the penalty for careless, dangerous or reckless driving is merely lip service if we do not have the traffic officers on the roads to enforce the law in the first place. Mobile phone use while driving has increased signifcantly despite tougher penalties because the chance of being caught is so low. Cameras are all well and good in certain circumstances but we need to invest in proper roads policing if we want to tackle antisocial road use effectively in the coming decade.
Dave, Leeds
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