Road deaths and serious injuries in Northern Ireland show no significant signs of reduction, a road safety charity is warning today as it launches a new charter for the “neglected victims” of road crashes.
To mark the start of Road Safety Week, the charity’s biggest annual road safety campaign, Brake is launching a new Road Victims’ Charter, demanding essential actions to ensure all those affected by road crashes receive the respect, support, and justice they deserve.
The Road Victims’ Charter, which is being launched in Westminster on Monday by the charity Brake, will call for the introduction of national standards that meet “best practice for post-crash response”.
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Written in collaboration with bereaved families, trauma consultants, and medical and legal professionals, the charter will also call for the rights of crime victims – as set out in the Victims’ Code – to be extended to those impacted by road harm.
The latest government road casualty statistics show that, in 2023, 951 people were killed or seriously injured on roads in Northern Ireland, a 1.5% decrease on 2022 figures. Further analysis of regional data by Brake shows that 71 people died on NI roads while a further 880 were seriously injured.
Mid and East Antrim saw the biggest increase in road casualties: the number of people killed or seriously injured on roads in the borough rose by 55.6%. The number of road deaths and serious injuries rose in five of the region’s local authority areas from 2022 to 2023.
Belfast saw the largest decrease in road casualties between 2022 and 2023: the number of people killed or seriously injured on roads in the borough fell by 21.8%, with a fall from 170 to 133.
One person loses their life on NI roads on average every week and 57 have died so far this year. More than 4,000 people were killed or seriously injured in NI from 2019 to 2023.
Brake’s National Road Victim Service provided specialist emotional and practical support to more than 1,500 families across the UK, helping them cope with their grief and navigate the complex procedures that often follow a road crash, including more than seven in Northern Ireland, with numbers already set to be even higher in 2024.
At any point in time, around 700 road victim families are receiving support from Brake, including parents, grandparents, siblings, friends and people who have witnessed a traumatic incident.
Many of the families supported have been involved in multi-fatality crashes, and around 7% of support cases involve the death of a child. Around 12% of support cases involve someone who is considered high risk or vulnerable.
Ross Moorlock, Chief Executive at Brake, said: “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 on 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 support 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.”
A UK Government spokesperson said: “Every death on our roads is a tragedy and our thoughts remain with the families of everyone who has lost a loved one in this way.
“We are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads, and we are developing a road safety strategy which we will set out more details on in due course.”
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In a message to mark the start of Road Safety Week, Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd said: “Road safety is an issue for all of us as a society. Every single week, at least one person – a mum, a dad, a son, a daughter, a friend - is not coming home to their family and their loved ones.
“These are people, not just a statistic, and their lives are shattered and will never be the same again. Long after the headlines are forgotten, victims have to live with the loss, the memories and the thoughts of what could have been.”
Mr O’Dowd added: “I appeal to all road users to think about their behaviour. Be mindful of others and proceed with care at all times, to ensure everyone gets home safe.
“I would encourage you to share road safety messaging so it reaches as wide an audience as possible and to talk about it with your friends and family – by doing so, you could be helping to save a life.
“The harsh truth is that we all need to wise up when we are using our roads because if we don’t, the number of deaths will continue to rise.”
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