Victims of fatal road crashes to be remembered at special Northampton church service

Those bereaved by road crashes will be joined by politicians and representatives from the emergency services at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Sunday, November 17.

The service, organised by RoadPeace, is also an opportunity to thank first responders, police and medical professionals who deal daily with the traumatic aftermath of crashes.

Charity founder Brigitte Chaudhry, whose son Mansoor was killed in a crash in 1990, said: “I am proud to have had a major part in the creation and evolution of the World Day to the present day.

"It has been wonderful to witness the spread of World Day commemorations throughout the world and to know that we victims are linked with each other on that special day in remembering our loved ones."

The Northampton co-ordinator for RoadPeace, Nicole Taylor, has a personal link to the issue as her daughter, Rebecca, died in a crash between Blisworth and Milton Malsor in 2008, at the age of 18.

More than 20 services will be held across the UK as part of a global movement to remember the lives lost and broken on the roads.

The Northampton service will be supported by Northamptonshire Music and Performing Arts Trust, the mayor, the county council, the police, fire and crime commissioner and emergency services.

Every year, 1.24m people are killed globally as a result of road traffic collisions and between 20m and 50m more are injured.

In Britain, 1,782 people were killed in crashes in 2018, including 31 in Northamptonshire.

Ms Chaudry added: "Of course we hope that raising awareness of the terrible consequences of crashes among all road safety stakeholders, governments and the general public will lead to a serious reduction of road danger and hence future deaths and injuries.

"We hope that thanks to the existence of our World Day we will have to remember fewer new road victims each year.”

The service at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre starts at 3pm - people of all faiths are welcome.