Lancashire Police Supports National Road Victim Month 2024 to Highlight Devastating Impact of Road Crashes
Thursday, August 1, 2024
Lancashire Police are proud to support National Road Victim Month 2024, an annual campaign highlighting the staggering number of people needlessly killed and injured in crashes on the UK’s roads.
The campaign, organised by RoadPeace, the national charity for road crash victims, aims to raise awareness about the fact that:
- Every day in the UK, five people are killed and around 80 are seriously injured, on average, in road collisions
- Since records began in 1926, over 500,000 people have been killed in UK road crashes – far exceeding the 375,000 UK citizens killed due to warfare during the same period
- The routine daily activity of driving results in more fatalities annually in the UK than both murder and terrorism combined
- In 2022 alone, 1,766 people were reported killed and 141,560 people were reported injured in collisions on UK roads
National Road Victim Month, which was established in 1998 by RoadPeace, also recognises the work of the emergency services, who respond to road crashes every day, and highlights the mental and physical impact that road crashes have on them.
August was chosen to honour Diana Princess of Wales, who was killed in a road crash on 31 August 1997, and Bridget Driscoll, the UK’s first road crash victim, who was killed on 17 August 1896, in Crystal Palace, London.
At Bridget Driscoll’s inquest, the coroner reportedly said he hoped that “such a thing would never happen again.” Yet, tragically, since then UK road deaths have far exceeded half a million.
Nick Simmons, CEO of RoadPeace, the national charity for road crash victims, said:
“A shocking five people are killed and 80 are seriously injured, on average, on the UK’s roads each day. These crashes are especially heartbreaking because most of them can be prevented.
“We are very grateful to Lancashire Police for supporting National Road Victim Month 2024 and for helping RoadPeace to raise awareness about the many needless deaths and injuries that occur every single day on our roads.”
In Lancashire, there were 3,782 casualties as a result of road traffic collisions in 2022 alone, and 12,587 motoring prosecutions across the county in the same year.
Our summer drink/drug driving campaign Op Virage and antisocial driving campaign Op Centurion are supporting the aims of National Road Victim Month.
In the last 12 months, over 2,600 people have been arrested for drink or drug driving offences in Lancashire. On average, that is 7 people every single day. As a force, we are using intelligence to target repeat drink and drug drivers, as a part of Operation Virage.
Op Centurion is our campaign focusing on anti-social behaviour, including anti-social driving issues across the county.
Hassan Khan, Superintendent, Specialist Operations at Lancashire Police, said:
“In Lancashire, we do everything we can to prevent serious collisions on our roads and reduce the number of fatalities or serious injuries as a result.
“National Road Victim Month encourages us to take time and think about the serious consequences of dangerous driving. I would urge anyone using Lancashire’s roads to drive safely to help avoid unnecessary and life-threatening collisions.
“Please obey speed limits, do not use your phone whilst driving, always wear your seat belt and never drive whilst intoxicated. Together we can help keep Lancashire roads safe.”
For more information about drink/drug driving in Lancashire, visit our website pages on Drink Driving and Drug Driving.
