AN MP has urged the Government to take urgent action on danger drivers.

Speaking during a House of Commons debate during Road Safety Week, Bradford South MP Judith Cummins said: "I’ve said on many occasions that although I do not think we will make our roads safer with any one approach alone, I do think that an improved legal framework is essential if we are going to reduce deaths and deliver justice for victims and their families.

"In 2017, we saw the highest number of road deaths since 2011.

"In West Yorkshire, 815 people were killed or seriously injured in road traffic crashes last year.

"The child casualty rate in my constituency is 52 per cent higher than the national average and progress in reducing deaths and serious injuries has been 30 per cent slower than elsewhere.

"Indeed in my constituency, we have one of the highest rates in the country of children killed or seriously injured on our roads."

She added: "In the short time I have, I’d like to focus on a few of the areas I think we need to make changes and I hope the Minister will be able to respond to the points raised.

"First, as ever, I must raise the issue of how the law deals with drivers who cause death through dangerous or careless driving.

"As many here will know, in October 2017, following a consultation, the Ministry of Justice announced a series of changes to the law around death by dangerous and careless driving.

"This included life sentences for death by dangerous driving, and for careless drivers who kill while under the influence of drink or drugs. And a new offence of causing serious injury through careless driving.

"This Government now claims that these changes will be incorporated into a review of cycle safety. I have to say, this is completely unacceptable.

"It is right that the government reviews cycle laws, but it is just not good enough that already-announced changes on sentencing are being rolled into the open-ended process.

"We have still not seen these changes implemented. We still have not received a satisfactory answer as to why there has been a delay. And we still do not know when they will finally come into force. Can I appeal to the Minister to take the opportunity today to finally give us some answers?"

Mrs Cummins also highlighted the issue of points and disqualification and the "exceptional hardship' loophole.

Currently, if a driver can convince a magistrate that they, or an innocent party such as a family member, will face ‘exceptional hardship’ as a result of losing their licence they may be permitted to keep it.

"We must ensure that the ‘exceptional hardship’ rule that allows drivers to keep their licence even when they have reached 12 points is not abused," she said.

"Data from the DVLA shows that over 200 hundred people in Bradford alone successfully used this argument last year and escaped a ban.

"There are 11,000 drivers across Britain who still have their driving licences despite passing the points limit of 12, some with 40 or 50 points.

"We cannot have drivers who have consistently broken the rules allowed to continue driving. It makes a mockery of our laws and puts other road users at risk.

"I will end, as I always do, by reminding us of the immense human cost of dangerous driving. Every family who has lost a love one in a road crash knows just how devastating it is.

"Anything we can do - including a creating a stronger legal framework - to make our roads safer, we must do as a matter of urgency."