Commons backing for killer drivers campaign

CALLING FOR RECKLESS OFFENDERS TO BE BANNED FOR LIFE

- JANE HAYNES News Reporter

WEST Bromwich Labour MP Sarah Coombes has strongly backed the Birmingham Mail's call for lifetime bans for drivers who kill and maim on our roads, taking its campaign to the heart of Parliament.

The MP, who is campaigning on road safety issues across her constituency and beyond, told the House of Commons that families have been “let down” by lenient sentencing and short driving bans for killer motorists, even when those drivers repeatedly show no regard for the safety of others.

She spoke out at a debate on the new Sentencing Bill currently going through Parliament as part of a major overhaul of a broken justice and prisons system.

Ms Coombes, elected in 2024, said she had since heard “countless stories from families and individuals who have lost loved ones or had loved ones seriously injured on our roads”.

“I have heard horrific stories of grandmothers killed in hit-and-runs, and of tiny toddlers whose lives have been cut short by drivers racing around in stolen cars and fleeing the scene,” she said.

“These families have been let down by huge backlogs that have been in the system for years.

“I have been working closely with the charity RoadPeace. It has opened my eyes to all the ways in which the system is failing.

“I was shocked to find out that even after someone has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving, they are often allowed to continue driving until they are actually found guilty, which can take years.”

She added that once offenders are released from prison, they often have incredibly short driving bans.