Drivers who cause fatal accidents while speeding, racing or using a mobile phone will face life sentences under a new Government crackdown.
Those who kill while under the influence of drink or drugs will also face the new penalty. The offences currently carry a maximum jail sentence of 14 years.
The move, to be announced today, comes after a Government consultation involving bereaved families and road-safety campaigners resulted in overwhelming backing for the law to be toughened up.
Justice Minister Dominic Raab said yesterday the move – to put the offence of causing death by dangerous driving on a par with manslaughter – was part of wider Government plan to clamp down on criminal behaviour on our roads.
Kaiz Mahmood (left) and Majid Malik (right) were jailed for eight years after causing death by dangerous driving. They mowed down and killed James Gilbey while racing at up to 70mph. Drivers who cause fatal accidents while speeding, racing or using a mobile phone will face life sentences under a new Government crackdown
Mr Raab said: ‘Based on the seriousness of the worst cases, the anguish of the victims’ families and maximum penalties for other serious offences such as manslaughter, we intend to introduce life sentences for those who wreck lives by driving dangerously, while drunk, or high on drugs.’
He said 9,000 people had taken part in the consultation, with 70 per cent backing life sentences for dangerous driving.
Last year, 157 people were sentenced for causing death by dangerous driving while a further 32 were convicted of causing death when drunk or under the influence of drugs.
Mr Gilbey, 25, a British Gas customer services adviser, was hit as he used a pelican crossing in Leeds in 2015
Mr Raab also pledged to ‘fill a gap in the law’ whereby drivers who cause serious injury can currently only be fined. A new offence of causing serious injury by careless driving will carry a jail sentence.
The crackdown, with legislation promised ‘as soon as parliamentary time allows’, comes after repeated protests by bereaved families and campaigners over killer drivers escaping with lenient sentences.
One such case was that of 25-year-old James Gilbey, mown down and killed by two men racing at up to 70mph.
The British Gas customer services adviser was hit as he used a pelican crossing in Leeds in 2015 but the offenders – Kaiz Mahmood and Majid Malik – received jail sentences of just eight years.
The current maximum penalty for causing death by dangerous driving is 14 years. Officials said it would still be up to individual judges to decide when to impose the tougher sentences, leading to fears they may not make full use of the new powers.
Earlier this year, it emerged that no one convicted of causing death by dangerous driving in the previous six years was given the maximum jail sentence.
The review into current penalties follows the death of Kim Briggs (left), 44, who was hit by a cyclist in East London last year. The rider, Charlie Alliston (right), 20, was cleared of manslaughter and received an 18-month jail sentence based on a law dating from 1861
Official figures also showed that of 653 offenders convicted between 2010 and 2015, only 93 were sent to prison for seven years or more.
The new measures come as the Department for Transport urgently considers whether to create a new offence of causing death by dangerous cycling.
The review into current penalties follows the death of Kim Briggs, 44, who was hit by a cyclist in East London last year.
The rider, Charlie Alliston, 20, was cleared of manslaughter and received an 18-month jail sentence based on a law dating from 1861.
Ministry of Justice officials said the updated legislation for car drivers would incorporate any new proposals on cycling.