A road safety campaigner in Peasedown St John is reminding drivers to comply with local and national speed limits, as part of National Road Victim Month this August.
Cllr Sarah Bevan, a long serving councillor since 2003 and regular advocate for greater road safety awareness, said: “Every year, in August especially, we remember those killed or injured on our roads during the National Road Victim Month.
“Every day, five people die on our roads in the UK, with 3,900 losing their lives worldwide.
“One in 75 of us are bereaved through a road traffic accident, which is a devastatingly high number.
“Losing a loved one in a crash is terrible. Lives are shattered, and some never recover from the trauma.
“Family breakdown, job loss, depression and even suicide are the unfortunate consequences of losing a loved one in this way.”
To commemorate the national awareness month, Cllr Bevan invited Cllr Donald Davis, an Independent Councillor from Pill, North Somerset to tour Peasedown St John with her.
Together, they viewed the success of the 20mph speed reduction implementation across the village.
Cllr Davis undertook the tour as part of a fact-finding mission with a view to introducing 20mph in his village.
Cllr Bevan added: “A road death is not a normal death – it is sudden, violent, unexpected, and premature.
“Despite the way road traffic accidents can destroy individuals and families, crashes are still seen as unfortunate ‘accidents’, instead of preventable collisions.
“Society will tolerate road death and disability as an acceptable price to pay for increased motorisation and convenience, and crash victims do not have the same rights or support as other victims of crime or trauma.
“Just by reducing our speed limits, and being more cautious about our own behaviour on the road, we can reduce the number of lives lost every day on roads in the UK.”
Coordinated by charity Roadpeace, August has been designated as National Road Victim Month for these particularly poignant reasons:
- Mary Ward, killed in Ireland on 31 August 1869. A scientist, she fell under the wheels of an experimental steam car.
- Bridget Driscoll was the first person killed in the UK by a car, on 17 August 1896, in Crystal Palace, London.
- Diana, Princess of Wales, was killed in a car crash on 31 August 1997, in Paris.
- There is an increased risk of children being injured or killed while on holiday from school.
- There is an increased risk of those travelling on holiday being involved in a car crash.
Cllr Bevan, and ward colleague Cllr Karen Walker, are currently overseeing a number of new road safety projects throughout Peasedown St John, including the installation of new flashing ‘SLOW’ signs in Ashgrove and Eckweek Road, a £5,000 feasibility study for traffic calming in Orchard Way, and a similar study costing £2,500 for Braysdown Lane.
