STAND by any busy road and it will not be too long before a vehicle comes along with the driver talking into a mobile telephone.

It is common to see drivers turning corners one-handed while the telephone conversation continues, and it is inevitable that injuries and deaths will be the result.

Around 37,000 people a year are killed or seriously injured on our roads, according to latest statistics, and many of them are the victims of dangerous, careless and illegal driving.

We therefore welcome the Government's proposals to toughen up the legal system in relation to motoring offences because there are clear anomalies which need to be addressed.

It is, of course, absurd that someone who causes a death on the road, and is charged with careless driving, can only be handed a fine.

Under the Government's proposals, a new offence of causing death by careless driving will be introduced, carrying a sentence of up to five years in prison.

While we broadly welcome the Government's plans, which also include another new offence of death resulting from illegal driving, we have to question the basic definition of "careless" when it comes to using a mobile telephone behind the wheel.

Drivers who use mobile telephones are not guilty of careless driving. They are guilty of knowingly putting the lives of others at risk. They are guilty of driving dangerously - and the definitions of the law should make that absolutely clear.