Shadow Transport spokesman Jamahl Simmons MP has called for tougher penalties for people convicted of road crimes which harm children.

He spoke out after four-year old Ezzyia Bean was mown down by a motorcyclist who did not stop.

The child, who was finally well enough to go back to school yesterday, suffered a broken nose, cuts and bruises after being struck side on by a large bike on Orchard Grove, Pembroke, last month while walking with his family. Mother Norlicia Bean told that no one had come forward about the accident, adding: ?I am very disappointed.?

Mr. Simmons said the hit and run should have shocked and outraged the community.

?The thought that anyone could be so heartless, so cowardly, as to leave this or any child for dead after striking them with their vehicle is sickening.

?It is my hope the young man recovers quickly, his family be comforted and this wicked individual be brought to justice as swiftly as possible.?

Mr. Simmons said there was a rising death toll from road offences.

?The time has come to level tougher penalties for road crimes when a child is a passenger of a vehicle or the victim of a road crime. Even if it only deterred one individual from driving drunk with a child in their car or from fleeing the scene of an accident, it would send a clear message that as a people, Bermudians place the safety of their children and respect for the rules of the road as a priority.?

At least 27 American states have passed laws since the early 1990s to expand protection for children and punish those drunk drivers who put them at risk, said Mr. Simmons.

?The approach 21 states have taken is to increase the penalties for drunk driving if a child is in the vehicle.

?From significantly higher fines and longer mandatory jail sentences to longer license suspensions and felony convictions, drunk drivers who endanger children often find themselves facing double the penalties of a standard drunk driving offence.?

Under the laws passed in most of these states, the child need not suffer physical harm for the stiffer penalties to apply, said Mr. Simmons. And he said at least four states have adopted laws making it a separate offence to have a child in the vehicle while the driver is under the influence of alcohol or controlled substances.