'My husband was killed by a reckless driver - the trauma is unbearable'

A widow has described the 'indescribable trauma' she endured after her husband was tragically killed in a head-on collision. Lesley Bates' husband, Tony, 68, was pronounced dead at the scene following the crash near Cheltenham in 2017.

A van driver admitted causing death by dangerous driving but avoided jail for the "massive head-on collision." Luke Peer received a sixteen-month jail sentence, which was suspended for two years, along with a two-year driving ban.

Lesley, a mother of two from West Bromwich, has spoken this week about the 'trauma' caused by her husband's death to mark Road Safety Week, urging drivers to act responsibly behind the wheel. She praised national charity RoadPeace for their support throughout the grieving process and for helping her feel that "there is a life to live again."

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Lesley shared her thoughts as part of a joint campaign between Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) and RoadPeace, the national charity for road crash victims. Recalling the death of her husband, she said: "The trauma that you experience when you lose someone in a road death is indescribable - the suddenness, the tragedy, the trauma of it. Somebody you love, someone you care for so deeply, is just gone in an instant.

"I'd only spoken to him a couple of hours before on the phone, and suddenly he was gone, never coming home. The support from RoadPeace has got me to a point where I feel there is a life to live again. There is a path to follow, a different path - not the one I had planned."

The campaign aims to draw attention to the Road Safety Action Plan launched earlier this month. Developed by a wide range of partners, including West Midlands Police, TfWM, local councils, the Police and Crime Commissioner, and RoadPeace, the plan outlines a series of actions to promote road safety, including increasing enforcement of speed limits and cracking down on uninsured and dangerous vehicles.

To mark Road Safety Week (Nov 18-24), Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, joined bereaved families at a memorial service for road traffic victims at St Martin in the Bull Ring, Birmingham. Lucy Harrison, West Midlands Coordinator for RoadPeace, said: "Every name remembered at our recent memorial service represented a family forever changed by a preventable tragedy.

"By sharing their stories, we hope to deliver change. We are grateful to the Mayor and TfWM for supporting our campaign and amplifying the message that we must continue striving for safer roads.

"I am immensely proud of the members of the RoadPeace West Midlands Group and their courage in trying to spare other families the suffering they themselves have to endure."