Road Safety Week UK is an annual campaign organised by the road safety charity Brake every third week in November.
Since its inception in the mid-20th Century, Road Safety Week has become a global event.
From its inception, the aim of this awareness week has been to reduce road traffic accidents and raise awareness of the need to improve road safety.
Each year, Road Safety Week has a specific theme, but overall, the goal is to reduce road accidents so that fewer people suffer injuries or death.
Some past Road Safety Week themes have included:
- Campaigning for a ban on using mobile phones while driving
- Raising awareness of how offensive many road crash victims find the word ‘accident’. As a result of the campaign, the DVLA agreed to replace the word with ‘crash, collision or incident in the Highway Code.
- Lobbying for a lower speed limit
- Launching a Roads to Justice Campaign, which demanded sterner penalties for killer drivers
- Producing a manifesto on motor vehicle fleet safety aimed at engaging with fleet owners to achieve best practice
- Raising awareness of the need for safe speed, safe vehicles and safe roads
Road Safety Week 2024: After the Crash – Every Victim Counts
This year’s campaign for Road Safety Week focuses on road collision victims, not only the injured victims of other road users’ negligence but also their families and those who do remarkable work supporting victims and their loved ones.
Every year in the UK, the Department for Transport (DfT) produces statistics detailing the number of road traffic accidents involving personal injuries reported by the Police to the DoT that occurred in the preceding year.
The latest report reveals that in 2023, there were:
- 1,624 fatalities
- 29,711 killed or seriously injured casualties (KSI)
- 139, 977 casualties of all severities
Fatal accidents declined slightly by 5% compared to the previous year’s figures, and ‘casualties of all severities’ decreased by 2%. The number of KSIs was similar to the preceding year.
However, the slight reduction in fatalities and KSIs is nothing to celebrate. It still means that every week of 2023, 31 people died, over 570 were killed or seriously injured, and almost 2700 suffered injuries of varying severity in road collisions.
It’s easy to see accident statistics as mere numbers and thus become almost immune to such appallingly high figures!
This year’s Road Safety Week campaign asks us to look behind the numbers and consider how life alters in a heartbeat for the grief-stricken family members of victims of fatal road incidents or catastrophically injured crash victims. They deserve the highest standard of care possible because:
….after the crash, every victim counts.
The National Road Victim Service (NRVS)
The NRVS was set up in 1995 as a free professional victim support service run by Brake to provide help for the families of road victims whose loved ones are killed or suffer catastrophic injuries in road traffic incidents throughout the UK.
The NRVS caseworkers help approximately 1500 victims’ families a year through the shock, disbelief, and devastation following the accident. If they could get funding, they would help more people!
The NRVS is wholly victim-centred and works to meet the individual needs of each person referred to the service. Most referrals come via a recognised pathway from the Police. The service works with other community organisations to ensure the victims get specialist help.
The Road Victims Charter
At the start of Road Safety Week, Brake launched a Road Victims Charter to ensure those affected by road collisions get the respect, justice and support they deserve.
Amongst other things, the Charter calls for:
- National standards for post-crash response.
- Commitment to best practice.
- Equal rights for all road victims.
- Central government funding for support services
- Accessible trauma-informed support
- Person-centred support
- Guidance for employers, schools and emergency responders
- Sentences to fit the crime
- Stricter bail conditions
- Strengthened driving bans
The Charter was launched at the Houses of Parliament on Monday, 18th November, as Road Safety Week began.
The CEO of Brake, Ross Moorlock, was quoted as saying:
“Road casualties are not just statistics. Behind every number is a grief-stricken family whose lives have been changed forever in an instant. The demand for our service continues to grow as road deaths and injuries show no sign of reducing. Every year, more families suffer the devastating impact of a road crash.
Every year, more and more families come to us in their darkest and most difficult times.
By comparison, at a Government level, funding for support for road victims is inadequate – so we and other charities that care for bereaved and seriously injured families rely on the generosity of other supporters to fund our vital work. We know that the right support at the right time can change the course of someone’s life.
Every road victim deserves the very highest standard of support and for that to happen we need a coordinated approach and national standards that meet best practice for post-crash response.
“We need national, multi-year funding for the provision of support to the affected road victim community, so that every family has access to trauma-informed, face-to-face support within their community, according to their needs.
“Road victims have been the forgotten and neglected victims for far too long and that has to change.
“Our families have told us what they want and what they need – and that includes recognition of the trauma of sudden road death and injury, parity with other victim groups, sentencing to fit the crime and lessons learned to prevent future road death and injury.
“Until we achieve a world where no one is killed or harmed on a road, we will continue to do everything we can to ensure that everyone affected by road death and injury receives the respect, support and justice they deserve.”
How Can Mooneerams Help the Injured Victims of Road Traffic Incidents?
For twenty-two years, Mooneerams Solicitors has been helping innocent victims of road traffic incidents get the justice they deserve. We’ve helped thousands of clients recover maximum compensation from the insurance companies of those responsible for those accidents.
We are an award-winning firm of personal injury solicitors specialising in personal injury claims, including those resulting from road traffic collisions. We handle most Road Traffic Injury claims on a No Win No Fee basis.
If you think you may have a potential claim, call now on 029 2048 3615 and speak with one of our friendly and knowledgeable personal injury lawyers in confidence and without obligation.
