Car is a weapon; On the web

Huddersfield Daily Examiner (Huddersfield, England), August 12, 2008

THE tragic death of a father and son on their way to Manchester Airport to catch a flight for their holidays has sparked debate on www.examiner.co.uk Gary Proctor, 47, and his son James, 16, from Wakefield, died in hospital after their Fiat Punto was in collision with an Audi on the M62 near Rochdale last week.

Imran Hussain, of Bradford, is said to have ploughed into the back of their vehicle as they travelled to the airport for a flight to Florida.

Hussain is accused of causing their deaths by dangerous driving.

He is also charged with being more than twice over the legal drink-drive limit and making threats to kill against a female BP petrol station attendant in Leeds.

The father-of-four spoke only to confirm his name, address and date of birth when he appeared at Rochdale Magistrates' Court.

In a general discussion about drink-driving, Emperorj said he believed there should be a mandatory 10-year sentence for anyone who gets behind the wheel and kills someone while over the drink-drive limit. Plus he wants the breath test level to be brought down to zero.

TommyDGNR8 said: "As soon as you get behind the wheel, you are in sole control of a ton of steel. If you choose to use your vehicle as an offensive weapon, then you should be prosecuted accordingly."

He added: "A 'zero alcohol' limit is impractical for numerous reasons, but cutting the current 'passmark' by 75% such that actually having a drink will result in a fail is a suggestion I have yet to hear a convincing argument against."

Waspish said anyone who was over the limit and drove should be charged with attempted murder.

He added: "If this were the case, the roads would be a safer place to be. I used to give free soft drinks to the 'dez' driver and I have been known on many occasion to confiscate keys from people who are drinking, along with a friendly but definite threat that I wouldn't hesitate to phone the police if they insisted on having their keys back. After a couple of months doing this, it became a laughing point but never the less the culprits knew better than to drive after drinking in any of my bars."