Flowers laid earlier this year in Crystal Palace in memory of Bridget Driscoll, the first UK road crash victim in 1896
Many people are unaware that a routine activity like driving a motor vehicle leads to more fatalities than both murder and terrorism combined.
This is especially tragic, as the majority of road deaths and injuries can be prevented by obeying traffic laws and acting more responsibly on the roads.
In 1998, National Road Victim Month was founded by RoadPeace, the national charity for road crash victims.
National Road Victim Month serves as a poignant reminder to:
- Highlight the staggering number of people killed and injured on the UK’s roads – Every day, five people are killed and around 80 people are seriously injured, on average
- To remember the many people who have been killed needlessly on our roads – Over 500,000 people have been killed on the UK’s roads since records began in 1926
- To show our unwavering support for the many road crash victims and bereaved families who have suffered the tragic loss of a loved one in a road crash
- To honour the work of the emergency services who respond to road crashes day in, day out and acknowledge the mental and physical impact that this has on them
The History of National Road Victim Month
National Road Victim Month was founded by RoadPeace in 1998. August was chosen as the designated month for the annual campaign, in honour of Princess Diana, who was killed in a car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997, and in memory of Bridget Driscoll, the first pedestrian to be killed by a car, in Crystal Palace, London, on August 17, 1896 (pictured above).
The coroner is reported to have said at Bridget Driscoll’s inquest, that he hoped ‘such a thing would never happen again’. Yet since records began in 1926, more than 500,000 people have been killed on the roads in Great Britain.
During the same period, in context, there have been about 375,000 UK citizen deaths due to warfare since 1926 – a period that includes the Second World War, among many other conflicts.
RoadPeace President and Founder Brigitte Chaudhry said of National Road Victim Month: “We want to remember all who have lost their lives prematurely or been injured in a crash, but we want their memories to be the motivation for bringing an end to all preventable cruel road deaths and injuries, so that we do not have new victims to remember in future.”
