It’s a shocking fact but nevertheless true: young people are four times more likely to die from car crashes than from drugs or alcohol poisoning.
According to the Royal Automobile Club (RAC), people between the ages of 15 and 24 are 17 times more likely to die in a road crash than to be fatally assaulted by a weapon.
Given that the media seem to report more on gun and knife crime in Britain – the most prolific recent shooting being that of Mark Duggan in August which sparked the violent summer riots – than deaths on the road, it would seem that they are fairly uncommon occurrences.
- Art: Rebecca Cooke
However, road crashes are the highest killer of young people aged 15-24 accounting for 38 per cent of non-medical deaths and figures show that every 16 hours a young person suffers often life-changing injuries, such as paralysis, on the Yorkshire and Humberside roads.
These high figures are more saddening when you realise that most deaths are preventable as statistics show that 80 per cent of road crashes are the fault of the pedestrian, with alcohol being a huge factor.
Busy places with bars and clubs are more likely to have incidents, particularly West Street, Division Street and Ecclesall Road.
In the past three years, 158 young people have been killed or injured on Sheffield’s roads – this roughly equates to one person a week, leaving potentially 158 families destroyed.
Brake – a road safety charity – highlighted the impact of car crashes on loved ones through Road Safety Week, which was held last month during 21st to 25th November.
The theme of this year’s campaign was ‘Too Young To Die’. It aimed to show the public that road crashes are more than just a second of inattention as the results can impact families forever, causing life changing injuries to pedestrians, drivers and vehicle passengers alike.
All money raised by Brake during the week will go towards helping support families affected by road crashes.
Although research shows that the carelessness of pedestrians causes the majority of road crashes, the inexperience of young drivers can result in a higher chance of them crashing, but there are ways that drivers can minimise risks – the most obvious being not to drink and drive and to follow all speed limits.
Alison Hughes, senior community engagement officer at Brake, says: “Everyday, more families face the unbearable news that a loved one has been killed suddenly and violently, or suffered a horrific injury in young driver crashes.
“We are calling for action to tackle this needless suffering and the huge costs to society.”
In April 2009, a foreign student was killed in a fatal car collision after walking out in the path of a taxi on Manchester Road, near the Endcliffe Student Village.
She was attempting to cross near the junction with Tapton House Road when she was struck and died instantly from massive head trauma.
A police spokesman, speaking at the time, said: “She suffered severe head injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.”
In that moment, when she stepped out into the road, the lives of her family fell apart.
As well as the effects to loved ones, the high number of collisions puts a lot of pressure onto the emergency services, especially during the weekend when they have the added pressure of alcohol-related injuries.
The Road Safety Week’s main launch was at Halifax on the 22nd November, coordinated by the West Yorkshire Fire Service.
Ian and Juliette Greenwood, from Wakefield, attended the launch as their daughter Alice, 12, was killed by a group of young drivers when she was returning from a trip to Alton Towers with her mother and younger sister Clara in October of 2008.
They were travelling on the A52 in Derbyshire when 18-year-old Andrew Sellars, breaking the speed limit by around 20mph, collided with the Greenwoods’ car after he failed to negotiate a bend.
Alice died later that night, while Clara suffered serious injuries and Juliette received permanent damage to her spine, legs and right arm.
Andrew Sellars was killed, as was his 16-year-old passenger.
The drivers of the four other cars were later convicted of causing death by careless driving – two of the drivers were sentenced to two years and three months in prison and the other two were sentenced to two years and nine months – showing how it isn’t just how the families and lives of the injured victims that suffer.
Mr Greenwood told Brake: “I am supporting Road Safety Week because I want to put an end to needless deaths and injuries caused by young drivers.”
Unfortunately it is too late for Ian Greenwood to save his daughter – hopefully the message of Road Safety Week will show people that anyone can be ‘too young to die’ and careless mistakes really cost lives.