The real-life impact of speeding – and other dangerous acts – is laid bare in a ‘hard-hitting’ new campaign featuring bereaved parents and emergency services staff.
Devised by Safer Roads Greater Manchester, the Limits Save Lives campaign comes as data shows speeding is a factor in 21% of collisions that result in a person being killed or seriously injured in Greater Manchester.
Meanwhile, approximately 40% of car journeys in the city-region have been recorded to be over the speed limit.
In a series of videos, the campaign puts the spotlight on how dangerous acts, such as speeding or driving under the influence of alcohol, have far-reaching consequences by telling the real-life stories of the people affected.
Two of those people, Dee and Dean Wilson, speak about the devastating impact of losing their 21-year-old son Matt to a road traffic collision in 2011.
Dee said: “You’ll never know what it is like to lose a child until you lose a child.
“When you turn that key, you are in charge of something capable of taking a life. Not only your own as the driver, but other people who may be walking or other drivers too.
“People say it is one of the worst things that can happen to a person so how awful would it be to know that you caused that kind of pain to somebody.
“You shouldn’t be texting on your phone or doing any of those silly things. Please take driving as a serious thing to do as the consequences are huge.”
The campaign also features a reconstruction of a collision, based on true events. In it, a young man is seen speeding while on his mobile phone before colliding with another car and killing a young mother.
It is particularly focused on young, male drivers.
Of all reported collisions in Greater Manchester, 58% involve a driver aged between 17 and 35 years, while 80% of all fatal collisions involve a male driver.
PC John Durham, family liaison officer at Greater Manchester Police, said: “The dangerous things you do when driving, whether that is driving at speed or with alcohol and drugs, it all adds to the chances of something going wrong.
“You never ever get used to the reaction of telling somebody that their loved one is dead. You do not want to be the subject of one of these stories.”
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