The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims is a day dedicated to remembering the millions of people killed and injured on the roads across the world. It also serves as a day to reflect, recognise the scale of the problem and consider how improvements can be made in the future.
There were 186,209 people injured in Great Britain in 2015 according to the Department for Transport, and 1,732 reported road deaths. This is 45% fewer fatalities than a decade ago, so clearly things have improved, but further improvements are required.
The theme for the World Day of Remembrance this year goes beyond reducing the number of deaths and injuries: this year the theme is “vital post-crash actions: medical care, investigation and justice” . The focus is on improving what happens after a collision, including the medical care a victim receives, the support provided to families, police investigations and how the justice system deals with criminal and civil cases arising from the collision.
Road justice campaigns aim to improve the way the justice system deals with collisions, how this can achieve justice for victims, discourage irresponsible driving and improve driving standards in general. A number of charities in the UK have been working on road justice campaigns for many years, including Road Peace, Cycling UK and RoSPA.
In addition to national charities, local campaign groups and community projects also work tirelessly to improve road justice. One example is the Live In Hope campaign in the West Midlands. This campaign was born from the tragic death of Hope Fennell in Kings Heath, Birmingham. I represented her mother, Nazan, in a civil case arising from Hope’s death, which was successful in achieving some justice. Nazan has been awarded the RoSPA Guardian Archangel Award. To find out more about this, read my article here.
In my experience, the approach taken by the justice system can have a huge impact on victims and families. Hopefully, in the majority of cases, they feel that they have had recognition, support and that justice has been done but it is clear that there are times when the legal system fails victims.
Some see criminal penalties as the core of achieving justice and organisations such as Cycling UK campaign to improve the criminal justice system, so more people have access to ‘Road Justice’. For others, a civil compensation claim arising from a road collision is the means by which a victim can achieve justice; though what one person thinks of as ‘justice’ will vary from another.
At Anthony Collins Solicitors, we have many years of experience representing victims of road traffic collisions, and we have worked alongside charities who campaign for road justice.
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