Sarah and Peter Milosevic were days away from welcoming their baby girl. But a drunk driver stole her future.

Sarah and Peter Milosevic were days away from welcoming their baby girl, Sophie, into the world.

But after an encounter with a drunk, high and speeding driver, the couple were left planning a funeral for their unborn daughter instead of celebrating her birth.

Sarah – then at 39 weeks’ gestation – said she knew at the time of the crash that her baby was gone.

Last month, the driver, 33-year-old labourer Rodney Leigh Shaw, received a $950 fine and five-month driving suspension for speeding and driving under influence of drugs and alcohol.

But the Brisbane couple who lost their little girl say it is not enough.

Sarah wants a new law to be introduced that recognises babies past 30 weeks’ gestation as human beings capable of being harmed or killed by a criminal act.

Her online petition for ‘Sophie’s Law’ has received more than 51,000 signatories in one week.

“I was 39 weeks pregnant when a drunk driver on drugs crashed into my car – as a result of this accident my baby died. I gave birth to her still body,” Sarah writes.

“It’s been hell. Instead of bringing my baby girl home I had to plan her funeral – I was that close to the end of my pregnancy. And now the man responsible gets away with it because she was stillborn and has no rights in a court of law. I want that law changed. I want all babies past 30 weeks gestation to have the right to be classed as a human being. I want pregnant women protected against acts of violence and against their babies dying because of an avoidable cause.

“Sophie should be alive but because of a careless act caused by a driver that does not care, he holds no responsibility for his action and walks free. All babies born past 20 weeks gestation need to have a birth certificate, a death certificate and also a funeral. So why is it that only in a court of law, does a baby have no rights to be counted? This petition is to give a voice to a little baby who will never take her first steps.”

She noted she did not want the changes to affect a woman’s right to abortion or have a pregnancy terminated for medical reasons.

Peter broke his neck in the August 2014 accident and Sarah suffered broken ribs, fractures and brain injury. Neither has been able to work since.

But Rodney Shaw – whose record includes 11 speeding fines since 2001 and a separate drink-driving offence – takes no responsibility for the death of the baby.

When questioned by A Current Affair, a remorseless Shaw – who was drunk, on drugs and speeding – said he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and he didn’t need to apologise to the Milosevics.

“They didn’t apologise to me, I nearly died,” he said.

The Milosevics said they could never forgive the father of one, who sat in court with his baby in his arms.

Because the opportunity to rock their newborn daughter to sleep in their own arms was stolen from them upon their chance encounter with the drug-affected hoon.

You can sign the petition here.