STUDENT Lauren Lloyd says her life has been ruined by a dangerous driver.

Now the 17-year-old is backing The Bolton News Drive for Justice campaign, which aims to see tougher sentences introduced for dangerous drivers who cause serious injury.

The campaign was launched after Bolton Crown Court Judge Steven Everett slammed the law which only allowed him to jail dangerous driver Christopher Marr for 26 months.

Now Lauren has signed our petition after the dangerous driver who caused her life changing injuries was last week jailed for just 12 months at Liverpool Crown Court.

Ian Clifford jumped into his Mazda 3 shortly after 10pm last September following a row at his partner’s Leigh home.

He went round a left-hand bend on the wrong side of the road in Holden Road, Leigh, as a Peugeot car driven by David Lloyd was coming the opposite way.

His daughter Lauren, then aged 16, was in the front seat and 11- year-old grandson, Jack, was in the back. After crashing into the family, Clifford ran off.

Lauren was badly injured in the crash, fracturing her right thigh and wrist and left with a 10cm scar on her forehead.

The Wigan and Leigh College student wanted to be a holiday rep and had just started a travel and tourism course when the crash happened.

But she had to drop out for a year and is now studying business because she cannot do her dream job due to her injuries.

Lauren, of Young Street, Leigh, said: “I am not happy with the sentence because he has ruined my life.

“I have not been able to do anything for a year and I still have to walk with crutches and sit down a lot.

“I am not as confident as I was.

I used to go out with my friends a lot but now I can’t because I cannot walk far. I don’t like the scar on my head, I feel like people are looking at me.

“When I look at the picture of the car, I wonder how it is that I am alive because it is a like a box the way it is smashed together.

“He had two previous driving bans but he has not learnt his lesson. I think there needs to be tougher sentences.”

Clifford, of Rutland Street, Leigh, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and failing to stop after the accident.

Jailing Clifford for 12 months, Judge Bryn Holloway, said: “The consequences of what you did have been absolutely appalling.

“As other judges have already said, the maximum sentence is low and ought to be considerably higher.”