NEW legislation that could see killer drivers face life behind bars has been welcomed.

The government has announced that motorists who cause death by speeding, street racing or while on a mobile phone are among those who could be given the maximum punishment.

Maximum sentences are set to rise for those convicted of causing death by dangerous driving and causing death by careless driving while under the influence of drink or drugs to life imprisonment. At the moment the top sentence is 14 years in jail.

A new offence of causing serious injury through careless driving is also to be created.

The move comes after thousands of people in a public consultation backed the introduction of tougher penalties.

In 2010 The Bolton News launched a successful campaign calling for dangerous drivers who cause serious injuries to face tougher sentences.

At the time drivers could only be jailed for a maximum of 26 months for the offence but has since been increased to five years.

Sir David Crausby, MP for Bolton North East, backed the Drive for Justice campaign and has welcomed the new legislation.

He said: “I think it is right that the courts have the power to give longer sentences to people who cause such devastation to the families.

“I do not think it is for the politicians to say what people should be sentenced to. I think it is right for the politicians and the government to allow the judiciary to properly sentence those who cause such devastation.

“Motor cars in the wrong hands are lethal weapons and they should be treated as such.”

Drive for Justice was launched after Devon Foster, then aged 14, from Bolton, suffered horrific injuries when she was hit by a car and the driver was sentenced to just 26 months in prison.

Judge Steven Everett, criticised the maximum sentencing guidelines and Devon’s family backed the campaign.

In September, Violeta Tarskevic was jailed for four years and eight months for causing death by careless driving while under the influence of alcohol.

She caused the crash that killed Bolton father-of-two Ian Wilcox on a bend in Tonge Moor Road in August.

When sentencing Tarskevic, judge Timothy Stead said that ‘there can be no satisfactory outcome to these proceedings’ and that ‘it is the court’s duty to do justice as best it can’.

Commenting on the sentence increases, Justice Minister Dominic Raab said: “We’ve taken a long hard look at driving sentences, and we received 9,000 submissions to our consultation.

“Based on the seriousness of the worst cases, the anguish of the victims’ families, and maximum penalties for other serious offences such as manslaughter, we intend to introduce life sentences of imprisonment for those who wreck lives by driving dangerously, drunk or high on drugs.”