Road Death and Injuries

Shatter Lives

The Carnage on our roads must stop

Every year in the UK there are 3,600 deaths and 320,000 reported (based on police, not hospital figures, according to which there are 500,000 road casualties) injuries on our roads. Only those who have been affected by bereavement or injury know the shattering consequences to families and loved ones and the devastating shock of being told that someone close to you has been killed or seriously injured. In addition to the tremendous emotional ordeal, victims very quickly have to deal with the complicated legal processes, the inquest and civil proceedings, which are likely to follow.

So who are the most vulnerable road users? We are all at risk, but some road users are more vulnerable than others. Pedestrians and cyclists, children and older and disabled people who make their journeys on foot are the hardest hit. Because of the danger from traffic, children are excluded from street play and independent travel and the elderly and disabled are confined to their homes.

Should we continue to accept this state of affairs? Society has become complacent about the high number of deaths and injuries, accepting it as a part of modern living. If the statistics were to relate to train or plane crashes, there would be a public outcry and intensive government investigation and legislation. Not so for road crashes, yet road crash casualties cost nearly £20 billion every year - half of the NHS budget

Campaign for safer roads RoadPeace believes that road death and injury are a national tragedy and we need a response from the national as well as local government through the introduction of measures to provide safer road conditions and legal systems to protect vulnerable people. Road deaths and injuries are routinely labelled "accidents" even when caused by gross negligence and breach of traffic laws, and are followed, in most cases, by minor road traffic charges which consider the death or injury as irrelevant. If you were killed by another driver, they would probably get a £250 fine and six points on their licence, and the death or injury would not be mentioned. This cannot be seen as a deterrent. Road Safety legislation must be high on the political agenda.

RoadPeace was set up in 1992 in response to the desperate need of victims for immediate and long-term support, timely, accurate information, and practical advice on complex and confusing legal procedures. It is the national voice for victims who have to cope not only with the sudden, violent and often horrific death of a loved one, or life-changing injury, but in addition with a legal and social system which does not recognise in any appropriate way the enormity of what has occurred. In 1998 RoadPeace launched a 5-year education and awareness-raising Campaign for Justice for Road Traffic Victims to bring to widest attention the scale of the disaster and to raise awareness of this major public health and human rights issue.

If you are concerned about the high rates of death and injury on our roads, especially if you are bereaved or injured through a road crash, you might like to join RoadPeace and as a member work with us for positive changes.