Sunderland woman heads to Westminster with campaign to get dangerous drivers off roads
Carol King's partner Richie Jordan suffered fatal injuries as a passenger in a crash on the A19
A woman from Sunderland, whose partner was killed by a drink-driver on the A19, will urge transport bosses in Westminster for change later.
Carole King wants the Government to make it easier to ban anyone suspected of causing death, or serious injury, by dangerous driving from the roads while they are under investigation.
She says currently a gap in procedures means bail terms are not always imposed, meaning those being investigated for dangerous driving are often still able to keep their licence during that period.
The man responsible for her partner's death was permitted to keep driving for almost two years between his arrest and his sentencing. That's despite, Carole say, evidence proving he had been driving over the legal alcohol limit, and was under the influence of drugs while driving her partner Richie Jordan on the night he died as a passenger in August 2019.
Carole told us "It would have given me huge peace of mind to know firstly he was off the roads, and I also felt like the severity of what had happened hadn't been acknowledge and I think that is what I really struggled woith for uite some time. Where was the acknowledgement if he didn't even have his licence taken off him?
"There was dashcam footage showing how he was driving, approximately what speed he was driving, his breathalyser result and the blood analysis definitively confirming that he broke the terms of his licence."
She went on to say that knowing the man who had caused her partner's death was still out on the roads during the time it took for him to to be charged and sentenced, made the whole ordeal worse:
"The attitudes of some people towards drink-driving are very lax. And as far as I am concerned when dealing with individuals who have a history of driving offences, ultimately, eventually something is going to happen. Whether that's to them or to someone else.
"I don't know for the life of me why we can't have the police making referrals to the DVLA about people they, maybe follow regularly, or are involved in anything like this. The individual who was responsible for my partner's death had three previous driving offences.