Where's the outcry? How did we become to tolerant of something so utterly devastating?

These are just a fraction of the road deaths reported in the media over recent months. 

They're there every time we read the news. Young people. Pedestrians. Cyclists. Drivers. Passengers. Gone. Every day.

We’ve come to live with this tragedy - families, friendship groups, entire communities shattered, daily. And somehow… we tolerate it.

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗿𝘆? 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘄𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘀𝗼 𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼 𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴?

Imagine if we replaced the word crash with '𝘬𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘦' 𝘰𝘳 '𝘨𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬.' Would we feel any differently? Would we still look away so easily?

𝗘𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱, 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝗻, 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝘂𝘁.

Two heads of roads policing have told me just this week that deaths are spiking in their counties.

𝗜𝗻 𝗘𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘅, 𝗳𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗱 - 𝟯𝟬 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝗽 𝘁𝗼 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿, 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰.

And yet - still no national Road Safety Strategy. No clear direction. No urgency from Government.

Local police forces and safer roads partnerships are doing all they can. But they cannot - and should not - be expected to tackle this level of harm without national leadership, coordination and support.

This is a human-made problem. We have created this public health emergency. 

The price of getting from A to B should never be a young life, a grieving parent or a community in mourning.

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽?