JUST weeks ago, Carole Russell and her family walked away from the wreckage of their car after a crash on the M6 motorway.

Not only was the car hit a total of five times, but it spun 360 degrees and collided head-on with a lorry.

But apart from Mrs Russell who suffered bad whiplash and worsened an existing back problem, she, her husband, her son and his friend, all escaped with no serious injuries.

The car itself was a complete write-off.

Mrs Russell says the crash was caused by a foreign lorry which pulled into them as it changed lanes.

Their car was, the Bulgarian lorry driver later told police, in his blind spot, as the lorry was left hand drive.

But rather than just counting their lucky stars that no-one was killed or seriously injured, the experience has left Mrs Russell determined to campaign for legislation to ensure all foreign, left-hand drive lorries in the UK have blind-side mirrors fitted.

She has launched an online petition at http://petition.pm.gov.uk/BlindSpotMirrors/ Currently, EU legislation means new lorries must be fitted with these mirrors and legislation due to come into force next year will ensure all lorries made after January 2000 must have them fitted retrospectively.

But Mrs Russell says if British law does not make it a requirement for all vehicles, it will become a nightmare to police and she fears lives will be at risk.

The petition already has 98 signatures, but Mrs Russell is hoping for thousands by the time it closes on January 5 2009.

She said: “Signing the petition literally takes a couple of minutes to do, so please do it. “You will be saving lives and helping to stop other families having to go through what we’ve been through.”

She also reminded those who do sign up to click on the link on their response email to ensure their vote counts.