A RIDING instructor is campaigning for tougher restrictions on foreign lorry drivers after cheating death in a high-speed motorway crash.

Islay Auty, of Oakleigh Avenue, Hallow, was returning from a dressage event near Buckingham when she was in collision with a 40-tonne truck travelling at 70mph on the M42 near Bromsgrove.

Her £17,000 Mazda was catapulted towards the hard shoulder, striking the crash barrier, before hitting the lorry again.

The car was a write-off but Mrs Auty and her two dogs, which were in the back of the vehicle, escaped unhurt.

"I thought I was going to die - they say it happens it slow motion and, believe me, it does," she said.

"The first impact I didn't know what had hit me but

the second time I was well aware and thought 'this is going to be nasty'.

"When I was pushed back into the traffic I thought my time had come - it was horrific."

When questioned by the police, the Czech driver said he had been on holiday the two days before the accident - so they could not check whether he had been driving longer than permitted.

Now Mrs Auty - who is a manager for the British Dressage Pony Team - said she wants to see stronger regulations on foreign lorry drivers to ensure they are only driving permitted hours.

She also wants to see lorries fitted with extra mirrors to cover blind spots.

The call comes after former Radio One DJ Mike Read was hit by a Polish lorry last month on the M3 in Surrey.

Mrs Auty has now written to West Worcestershire MP Sir Michael Spicer raising the issue and also plans to contact professional body the Road Haulage Association.

"If drivers are going to come over and drive on our roads they should be playing by the same rules," she added.