A1 County Durham crash: Further support for mandatory lifelong driving bans
A man was jailed for 17 years and three months for killing a baby boy and his aunty
There has been further support for mandatory lifelong driving bans for deaths caused by dangerous driving after a baby and his aunty died in a collision on the A1 in County Durham.
Eight month-old Zackary Blades and 30 year-old Karlene Warner, from Ferryhill, were in a Peugeot 308 driven Shalorna Warner, the boy's mum and Karlene's sister, on the motorway on the 31st May this year.
They died instantly when the driver of an Audi Q5, who was speeding at 141mph, crashed into them.
3\8 year-old Darryl Anderson from Rotherham had been drinking and seconds before the crash used his phone to take a photo of his speedometer. He was jailed for 17 years and three months.
Shalorna started a petition calling for the implementation of mandatory lifelong driving bans for deaths caused by dangerous driving. It has reached more than 75,000 signatures.
Lola McEvoy, MP for Darlington, said: "This is an unbeliveably horrible and tragic case. I mean when I heard about it as an ordinary person, my heart went out to them because it's unimaginable the pain that they're going through. The Durham Police and Crime Commissioner, Joy Allen, has already spoken to me about this. The family have contacted me to ask for my support on the petition.
"I'm going to meet with them and also take this up in Parliament with the colleagues that are in charge of it because what I want to understand is, what other things can we do in order to make the roads safer for everybody? because this is kind of a turning point case.
"They're doing an amazing job in the face of a really horrendously tough time to be able to channel their grief into action, and I'll be really keen to speak to them and hear their views on what they want me to do to help.
"I think what's important here is that obviously you can get as many signatures but I would just count as one signature. There might be other ways that I can support in addition to that to make sure that we can get as much impact, and as much support, for that family as possible because what's happened to them is one of the worst things you can ever imagine, so my heart goes out to them and I'm very keen to meet."
Joy Allen, Durham Police and Crime Commissioner, said: "As a mother, she has suffered the most unimaginable pain and heartache, but has chosen to take this grief and apply it positively to save the lives of others.
"We need to invest more in education and awareness to drum home the consequences of dangerous driving and deter other drivers in future from making the same appalling mistakes.
"More than 200 people die every year on Britain's roads at the hands of a drink driver. Every driver who gets behind the wheel with alcohol in their system is knowingly putting other innocent lives at risk.
"I will use my voice locally and nationally to raise the profile of this important campaign, discussing the case with people responsible for making national decisions on safety."