The Forgotten Victims of Road Crime: A Call for Justice

In the shadow of every fatal road collision lies a story of profound loss, and for too many families, an agonizing journey through a justice system that seems to turn its back on them. The loved ones of those killed in road crashes have spoken out about feeling abandoned and forgotten, their grief compounded by a legal process that fails to treat deadly driving with the seriousness it deserves. A devastating report from the victims’ commissioner for England and Wales has exposed the harsh reality that bereaved families face: they feel their suffering has been minimized, their loved ones’ lives devalued, and their trauma repeatedly triggered by a system that seems designed to protect suspects rather than support victims. This comes against a backdrop of staggering statistics, with 1,579 people losing their lives on British roads in the year leading up to June 2025, a figure that is more than three times the number of homicides recorded during the same period. Beyond those killed, more than 25,000 individuals suffered serious injuries, each one representing a family thrust into a nightmare of uncertainty, frustration, and heartbreak.

The personal stories behind these statistics paint a devastating picture of what happens when the justice system fails. Liam O’Connor, a vibrant twenty-year-old student, was crossing at a pedestrian crossing in June 2023 when a taxi struck and killed him. His parents, Joan and Mike O’Connor, expected that the trauma of losing their child in such a sudden and violent manner would be the worst part of their ordeal. Instead, they discovered that the criminal justice system would add layer upon layer of additional suffering. The investigation dragged on for fifteen months, the inquest took two years to be scheduled, and ultimately, prosecutors decided there was insufficient evidence to bring any charges against the driver. The couple described how nearly every professional they encountered seemed to downplay the significance of their son’s death, with some even engaging in victim-blaming. They believe with certainty that if their healthy, fit young son had died in any other circumstance, such as being fatally punched in a pub, the response from the Crown Prosecution Service would have been entirely different. Instead, they were treated as second-class victims, facing endless barriers while the system appeared focused on shielding the suspect from consequences.

The story of John Liddle and his wife Louise reveals another dimension of this systemic failure. John was knocked off his bicycle by a minibus in May 2023 and later died from his injuries, yet the driver responsible was never charged with any crime. Louise acknowledged that the police were supportive and genuinely fought for her case, twice appealing the decision not to prosecute. However, bureaucratic obstacles prevented them from interviewing the driver for nine weeks, and they had no power to suspend his license during the investigation. This meant the man who killed her husband returned to work immediately, driving minibuses past her house every single day, a constant and cruel reminder of her loss that eventually forced her to move away from the area entirely. The trauma extended even to the most basic aspects of grieving, as Louise waited a fortnight for the coroner’s office to release her husband’s body. When the funeral finally took place, she still had no information about how John had died, forcing her to say goodbye without knowing what had really happened or why. This lack of information, transparency, and basic human consideration added unbearable weight to an already devastating loss.

The report compiled by victims’ commissioner Claire Waxman OBE reveals that these experiences are not isolated incidents but part of a broader pattern of systemic failure. Many families found themselves “left in limbo,” facing lengthy police investigations, poor communication, frustrating court delays, and significant difficulties accessing support services at the very moment they needed help most. The emotional toll of these bureaucratic failures cannot be overstated, as bereaved relatives described feeling excluded from court proceedings due to inadequate facilities and practical barriers that prevented them from fully participating in the process. Even when cases did reach conclusion, many were left deeply disappointed with the sentences imposed on drivers, struggling to reconcile the profound loss they had experienced with what they perceived as lenient punishments. The statistics support these feelings, showing that in the year leading up to September 2025, police investigations into death by dangerous driving took an average of 372 days to complete. Furthermore, fifteen percent of all trials for causing death and serious injury while driving were delayed, prolonging the agony for families waiting for answers and accountability.

Perhaps most heartbreaking is the story of a widower who spent months not knowing whether his wife had been killed by a dangerous driver or had tragically taken her own life. He described the agonizing uncertainty of not knowing if she had deliberately gone to the wrong side of the road, a question that haunted him daily. When he was finally told the collision was “avoidable,” the comment struck him as deeply cruel and confusing, until he learned that this meant avoidable by the perpetrator, not his wife. This revelation came months after her death, leaving him to navigate his grief without crucial information about what had happened. The report also revealed that more than a third of defendants convicted of causing death by either careless or dangerous driving avoided prison sentences entirely last year, a statistic that many bereaved families found impossible to accept. One grieving relative expressed that seeing the eight-year sentence imposed on a driver who killed a twenty-year-old woman made it feel as though her life had no value at all, a sentiment that echoes the feelings of countless other victims’ families who believe the justice system fails to recognize the worth of those killed on our roads.

Claire Waxman is now urgently calling for stronger national standards, better oversight, and greater accountability in road traffic collision investigations. Her recommendations include more consistent training for police in dealing with trauma, alongside improvements to investigations and strengthened support for victims. She emphasized that behind every road death or serious injury lies a victim, a grieving family, and lives changed forever, yet too many victims have told her that road crime is not treated with the seriousness it deserves. Ross Moorlock, CEO of road safety charity Brake, has voiced support for the report’s findings, calling for a more victim-centred approach that includes timely and thorough investigations, stronger national standards, trauma-informed practice across all agencies, and sustainable funding for specialist support services. The government has responded by expressing sympathy for those affected and pointing to £550 million in investment for support services over the next three years, along with a commitment to reduce deaths and serious injuries on roads by sixty-five percent by 2035. However, for the families who have already suffered through this broken system, these promises offer little comfort. They continue to carry the weight of their loss alongside the additional burden of a justice system that failed them, their grief compounded by the knowledge that their loved ones’ deaths were treated as less important than other crimes. The fight for meaningful change continues, but for Liam’s parents, John’s wife, and countless others like them, the damage has already been done, and the scars of both their loss and their treatment by the system will remain with them forever.