BRITAIN'S road traffic laws are both confusing and disturbing.

A man who drove the wrong way down two motorways (M62, M60) at speeds of up to 110mph, for 20 miles, with police cars and a helicopter in hot pursuit, has been given a 14-month jail term after the judge at Manchester Crown Court said: "This court has a duty to make it plain that driving in this fashion, when you exposed perfectly innocent members of the public to grave risk, will be severely punished".

With a head-on crash impact of close to 200mph, and therefore certain death for the driver himself, and any innocent vehicle occupants who might be caught in his line of fire, then he is clearly a loose cannon if ever there was one.

A person simply caught walking down the street carrying an unloaded firearm automatically gets a minimum five-year jail term.

Could these double standards be explained by the words of the judge? - "driving in this fashion".

Driving at excessive and inappropriate speeds on public roads is a fashion in Britain.

Sadly, one that kills or seriously injures close to 5,000 innocent children every year.

In passing such a lenient sentence for driving in an "utterly outrageous manner, which was prolonged, persistent and deliberate", it will remain a fashion for a long time to come.

What a terrible, and indeed shameful tragedy this will turn out to be.

ROADPEACE MEMBER