Government continues to give bereaved and injured road traffic victims fewer rights than to victims of even the most trivial property crimes.

Road victims are excluded from the Victims' Charter

Both the 1990 and the 1996 Victim Charters excluded road traffic victims. When a new review of the Victim Charter was undertaken in June 2001, the question was asked : "Should a new Charter include road traffic incidents which lead to death or serious injury?" RoadPeace, with over 120 other organisations and individuals responded to the consultation - all of whom asked for road victims to be included under the provisions of the proposed new Charter, which had the following seven key principles:

1. to treat victims with dignity and respect
2. to provide protection
3. to provide help and support
4. to provide accurate and timely information
5. to provide compensation and reparation
6. to give victims the opportunity to say how they have been affected by the crime
7. to provide a transparent system of justice

RoadPeace wrote in their submission that to deny road crash victims the key provisions of the charter would contravene the Human Rights' legislation, and to make their inclusion conditional on resources would be indefensible.

Draft Victims' Code of Practice excludes 99.9% of road crash victims

A 'code of practice governing the services to be provided to victims of criminal conduct', published in draft in September 2003, appears to have replaced the proposed Victims' Charter. A Code, representing a minimum level of service by agencies (police, CPS, the Courts Service, Magistrates' Courts' Committees, the Criminal Injuries Review Commission, etc.) appears to be of lesser value than a Charter, giving victims rights.

RoadPeace was shocked to find that even then, and despite the expressed wishes by the respondents to the June 2001 Consultation that road victims should be included, road victims were yet again excluded.

Our letter to the Home Office, dated 8 October 2003 and expressing our concern that 'road victims seemed once again treated as second class victims and denied the rights given to victims of even the most trivial property offences' has still not had a response.

RoadPeace has made the exclusion of road victims from the Code the subject of their All Party Parliamentary Group meeting on 19 November 2003 and has prepared questions for Parliament.