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Justice and support for crash victims

Leigh Day & Co is proud to sponsor the Justice and Support campaign. Visit Leigh Day & Co's website.

Deaths and serious injuries on roads cause horrendous suffering every day. These needless casualties are sudden, violent, man-made, and result in devastation for the bereaved and injured victims. Yet these families remain the forgotten victims. They desperately need comprehensive support, guidance and information, but often they don’t get it.

At the same time, crimes that can and do lead to death and injury – like speeding and mobile phone use at the wheel – are trivialised by paltry penalties. These penalties should be tough enough to protect the public by deterring from dangerous law-breaking, yet often they are no more than a slap on the wrist. Even drivers who kill and cause appalling serious injuries often receive grossly inadequate punishments that insult bereaved and injured victims, leaving many feeling betrayed by our justice system.

What needs to be done?

Victims of burglary automatically receive an offer of face-to-face support, through a service funded by government. Road crash victims, whose loved ones have been violently killed, or who have suffered appalling life-changing injuries, do not. Brake supports bereaved and seriously injured crash victims through a national helpline and packs, part-funded by government. But this remains a grossly under-funded area, with many unable to access a clear pathway of support. Brake urges the government to rectify this, by funding comprehensive, specialist support, automatically offered to all families bereaved and seriously injured by crashes. Read about support for road crash victims.

Brake also calls for reform to charges and penalties for driving offences. We need much higher penalties for crimes that put lives in danger, like speeding and phone use at the wheel. We need drivers who have racked up 12 points to receive automatic disqualification, rather than many being allowed to keep driving. And we need to ensure drivers who kill and maim through bad driving receive punishment appropriate to the suffering they cause. Read more on charges and penalties.

What you can do

Write to your MP calling for comprehensive support for crash victims, and tougher penalties for driving offences
Click like above to spread the word on Facebook
Sign up to our fortnightly e-bulletin, for updates on our campaigns and how you can help
If you have been affected by a road death or injury and want to be involved in our campaign, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it telling us your story
Make Brake’s Pledge to help prevent further tragedies on roads
Sign a petition by Rebecca Still, 13, calling for immediate licence revocations for drivers who kill
Read this speech, by Nicole Taylor, on why road crash victims need comprehensive support

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Every 30 seconds someone, somewhere in the world, is killed in a road crash.The misery of road deaths and injuries and the pollution caused by vehicles is a shameful epidemic that must end. Brake campaigns to stop the carnage and supports the victims.