A WOMAN widowed in the Selby rail disaster has pledged to fight for a change in the law on sleep-deprived drivers.

Margarita Needham lost her husband, Barry, when the train he was travelling in hit a Land Rover that had careered on to the East Coast Main Line, at Great Heck, in February 2001.

The driver of the Land Rover, Gary Hart, was later jailed for five years on ten counts of causing death by dangerous driving after a jury decided he had fallen asleep at the wheel.

Now, Mrs Needham, from Pocklington, East Yorkshire, has pledged to fight for a clause to be inserted into careless and reckless driving laws, specifically targeting drivers who kill while they are tired.

Research has shown that motorists who go more than 24 hours without sleep display the same loss of reflexes as someone who is drunk.

However, although specific penalties are in place for driving under the influence of drink or drugs, there are none for tired drivers, although drivers are prosecuted under existing legislation.

Mrs Needham has taken heart after a US court last year implemented a specific penalty for motorists who drive while tired.

"Times have changed and the law needs to change with those times. I feel that victims need to have a voice and this gives us an opportunity," she said.

"It has happened in the US. I would like to see a new law here. In a way, I have always been campaigning for this.

"I feel that through this I am fighting for Barry and that he is close to me. Society's attitudes need to change and tired driving needs to become unacceptable."