A grieving mother whose daughter was killed by a speeding young driver today backed a new campaign to tackle boy racers'.

Kathleen Egan is demanding courts use their full powers to impose long jail sentences on dangerous drivers who kill on the roads, as new figures reveal fatal crashes are on the rise.

Her daughter, Leanne Egan, 23, of Ravenscliffe, Bradford, was knocked down and killed in front of her partner and 13-month-old daughter as she crossed Manningham Lane, Bradford, on Christmas Eve, 2005.

Mohammed Tayyab Khan, 25, of Brantwood Road, Stoney Ridge, Bradford, who admitted causing death by dangerous driving, was uninsured and overtaking between 55mph and 60mph, approaching a pedestrian crossing, when he hit Leanne.

After initially stopping, he drove off in the badly damaged car, which he later abandoned before giving himself up to police.

Mrs Egan is furious after Khan was jailed for fours years at Bradford Crown Court this week and she is calling for judges to use their powers to hand out the maximum allowable sentence of 14 years for such offences. She is supporting an initiative, being planned by the West Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership with a £12,000 Government grant, to educate young male drivers about the consequences of driving too fast.

Last year the Telegraph & Argus started our Be Safe Not Sorry Campaign, backed by the police, fire and ambulance services, to encourage drivers to take more care on the roads to try to cut the number of deaths and injuries on the district's roads.

There has been a significant increase in the number of young people killed or seriously injured through reckless and illegal driving in West Yorkshire.

Last year the number of people killed on the county's roads went up from 99 to 113. There was a 50 per cent increase in the number of car drivers, aged between 16 and 29, who were killed, while the number of car passengers of a similar age who died doubled.

The Partnership's spokesman, Philip Gwynne, said young male motorists enjoyed the thrill of driving fast but were ignorant of the dangers.

"It's seen as cool' or macho' and there is peer group respect to be gained from having a customised car and taking your mates out in it and showing it off," said Mr Gwynne.

"Our planned driver outreach event has earned Government approval at the highest level, because it is designed to engage with this group - literally on an individual and face-to-face basis - to deliver road safety messages."

The details of the scheme have still to be thrashed out, but Mr Gwynne said it was designed to educate "boy racers".

"We want to break into their mindset and hope they will respond positively."

Mrs Egan, 47, of Dewsbury Moor, Dewsbury, said: "I very much agree with the scheme. Education is important. If young people are made aware of the dangers and of what can happen to people like Leanne, they might change the way they drive. I would urge young people to be aware of the consequences of speeding and not do it."

Mrs Egan said the law needed to be fully used by judges so that tougher sentences were imposed as a deterrent.

And, contrary to her reported reaction immediately after Khan was jailed, she said she was not satisfied with the sentence.

She said today: "A four-year sentence is absolutely disgusting. He will come out in two years and will have done his sentence. Myself and my family are carrying a life sentence.

"The police told me to expect a four or five year sentence, but I was hoping for a lot more. I was shocked and upset he got four. The law on dangerous driving needs toughening. They should be looking at 15 years at least for something like this.

"The law puts more importance on people's property than their lives. If the sentences were tougher they wouldn't behave in this way."

Mrs Egan said Leanne, who lived with her partner Christopher Whincup, 25, and their daughter, was a "beautiful young lady, full of life".

She added: "She had a baby and a brilliant partner. It has all been taken away from her, and all those who loved her are having to live with it.

"It's been very difficult for Chris. He is absolutely heartbroken and totally changed. He has to look after Sasha every day, knowing that her mother, and his partner, have been taken away.

"Sasha is two and is too young to understand. When she is older she will have to be told what happened and that her mum was a lovely woman."

New Department for Transport figures for 2006 show the number of fatal crashes in the UK rose by seven to 2,920 from the previous year.

National road safety charity Brake is calling for urgent action to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries on the roads.

Its spokesman Dianne Ferreira said Brake was 100 per cent behind the West Yorkshire initiative to educate young male drivers.

She said: "A disproportionate number of young people are dying. It is a huge problem and we are working very hard on education in this area."

She said the sentence on Khan seemed "rather low."

"The maximum sentence can be 14 years. The justice system needs to be seen as coming down hard on offenders like this. Four years will seem to be little justice for the family of this young woman."