The Conservative Party has demanded permanent driving disqualifications for the nation's most lethal motorists after data exposed judicial leniency towards those who kill on Britain's roads.
New research has revealed that merely one per cent of motorists found guilty of killing through dangerous driving received permanent bans from the roads last year.
The figures show an even starker picture for those who caused serious injuries through dangerous driving, with only 0.5 per cent receiving lifetime disqualifications.
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The statistics have prompted fierce criticism from the opposition, who argue that the current system permits convicted killers to resume driving after minimal periods away from the wheel.
Motorists could face lifetime driving bans under new plans from the Tories
|GETTY
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp launched a scathing attack on the Labour Government's approach to road safety, declaring: "Under this Government, you can kill someone with your car and be back on the road in just five years.
"In England and Wales, the most dangerous drivers are being let back behind the wheel every single day because of soft sentencing guidelines.
"This isn't justice, it's a system that clears killers to drive again and again and again," The Telegraph reported.
The Conservative MP for Croydon South said it was time to introduce "automatic lifetime bans for the worst offenders", noting that "it costs nothing".
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said the new measures needed to be implemented to improve road safety
|GB NEWS
Research conducted by the Onward think-tank uncovered disturbing examples of dangerous driving cases, including 20-year-old Cain Byrne, who had never possessed a driving licence when he struck and killed an 81-year-old cyclist.
The fatal collision occurred immediately after Byrne had inhaled nitrous oxide from a balloon.
He received an eleven-and-a-half-year sentence in a young offenders' facility and a driving prohibition lasting seventeen years and eight months.
Another case involved Alan Moult, who was 74 when he deliberately struck cyclist Nick Cook following a confrontation where Cook had spat on Moult's Land Rover.
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The victim sustained severe injuries including a fractured pelvis, six broken ribs and liver damage.
Sir Simon Clarke, who leads the Onward think-tank responsible for the research, expressed outrage at the current situation.
He said: "It's outrageous that killers and serial offenders are being handed their licences back like nothing happened. Lifetime bans should be the norm, not the exception."
The Sentencing Council's existing regulations mandate a five-year minimum disqualification for fatal dangerous driving cases.
In cases where serious injuries occur, there is only a two-year minimum ban, regardless of the severity of the circumstances.
Despite the Conservative Government introducing harsher penalties in 2022, allowing life imprisonment for fatal dangerous driving cases, the typical prison terms remain between two and 18 years according to current guidelines.
There have also been calls for cyclists who cause death by dangerous driving to face harsher sentences in a bid to deter anti-social riding.