David Burrowes MP

Conservative Party | Enfield Southgate

Burrowes calls on Government to get tough on Hit and Run drivers

David Burrowes MP is saying ‘enough is enough’ when it comes to lenient sentencing for hit and run accidents.

 The importance of the issue was highlighted by a hit and run accident in Cockfosters Road, outside Prezzo's Restaurant on 27th November last week. The first car that hit the female pedestrian drove away, leaving her to be run over again by a second car driven by an elderly man who had no opportunity to avoid her.
She suffered horrific injuries and her recovery will take upwards of 15 months. The sentence handed down to the driver, if caught, is likely to be a mere reprimanded by means of a fine and a period of disqualification from driving.

 Burrowes is quick to point out that “sentencing for hit and run criminals fails to adequately address the crime. It seems ironic, at best, to consider that if the driver waits at the scene of an accident such as this one, the charge brought against him could have been one of Dangerous Driving, for which there I a maximum sentence of 14 years imprisonment. However, if the driver chooses to commit a further crime and desert the scene of the accident, the punishment may not even be imprisonment. This must be changed.”

 David has been involved in campaigning on the issue of road safety since his election in 2005 and just the other week used a debate on hit and run accidents as a platform to raise concerns over weak sentencing for this crime.

 During the debate Burrowes expressed in unequivocal terms that: “Victims and members of Parliament are concerned that there should be a proper deterrent so that people know that, if they fail to stop, they may well face a sanction that is not just six months in prison but could be increased.”

 David Burrowes is determined to keep applying pressure on the Government to see the laws on this issue changed