A CAMPAIGN group today repeated its demand for new laws to crack down on driver error.

Carole Whittingham, founder member of Support and Care After Road Deaths and Injury, said the result of a court case in Carlisle, against a lorry driver involved in a double-death crash, demonstrated the need for action.

Lorry driver John Thomas Dunbar, of Gateshead, was fined £500 but not given a driving ban after pleading guilty to driving without due care and attention.

The charge followed a pile-up which claimed the lives of a Huddersfield man, 29-year-old Timothy Cruise and 34-year-old Wendy Duignan, of Annan, Scotland.

Mrs Whittingham, who heads the road safety group, said: "The law is difficult and that is why we have long campaigned for a change.

"The difference between a Section 1 charge, such as dangerous driving or causing death by dangerous driving, and a Section 3 charge, like driving without due care and attention, can literally be only a matter of interpretation.

"If the lawyers believe a person has driven below the required level, they will go for due care and attention; if it is far below the required level, then it can be dangerous driving.

"There needs to be some middle ground, some charge of causing death by careless driving.

"Then at least the victims' relatives can see that their loved ones are acknowledged in court actions, that their lives are being taken into account."

Mrs Whittingham, whose son, Steven, 27, was killed by a speeding car thief in 1992, said the group would continue to press MPs to change the laws.

"No-one wants retribution but we do want to see our loved ones acknowledged."