RoadPeace is the national charity for road crash victims in the UK. It supports the people affected by road crashes with emotional and practical support and advocacy. It operates a help line and provides practical support to people affected. RoadPeace founded the

World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims takes place on the third Sunday in November every year as the appropriate acknowledgment of victims of road traffic crashes and their families. It was started by the British road crash victim c ...

and established the RoadPeace Wood within the

National Memorial Arboretum The National Memorial Arboretum is a British site of national remembrance at Alrewas, near Lichfield, Staffordshire. Its objective is to honour the fallen, recognise service and sacrifice, and foster pride in the British Armed Forces and civilian ...

. The organisation also seeks to change attitudes so that road deaths and injuries are no longer "treated by the economy as acceptable, by the judicial system as trivial and by society as accidents"; that road crash victims are no longer treated as "third class victims, but as people who have undergone a terrible trauma and who therefore need justice, respect for their rights, care, support and acknowledgement of their loss and suffering". They also work to reduce 'road danger' to that of other everyday activities and to improve services and criminal and civil justice in order to greatly reduced number of road crash victims.

History

RoadPeace was founded by Brigitte Chaudhry

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

following the death of her son in 1990, after which she was shocked at the 'shabby' treatment of his innocent death when is discovered that the response to a road death was very different from the response to any other form of violent death from any other cause. Chaudhry decided to challenge the casual attitude to road casualties and offer support to the victims. The first Roadpeace meeting was held in 1991, the organisation was established in 1992 with the first ever helpline for road crash victims with Chaudhry was National Secretary; the organisation was publicly launched in April 1993. RoadPeace organised the first

in 1993 which now takes place in many places on every continent on the third Sunday in November every year (a week after

Remembrance Sunday Remembrance Sunday is held in the United Kingdom as a day to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts. It is held on the second Sunday in Nov ...

which takes place each year in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and which remembers the dead from wars). with the

European Federation of Road Traffic Victims The European Federation of Road Traffic Victims (FEVR) is a non-governmental organisation that provides emotional, social and juridical assistance to road traffic victims or/and their relatives and supports organisations in many countries to achie ...

, which was also founded by Chaudhry. The first trees were planted in the RoadPeace Wood is within

in 2001 and the wood was dedicated in 2002. An annual ceremony of remembrance for road traffic victims is now held on the second Saturday in August every year. In 2005 the World Day of Remembrance was adopted by the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

Brigitte stepping down from day to day involvement in April 2008 to concentrate on international work. She is currently president of RoadPeace. The organisation won a Guardian Charity Award in 2008.

Resources

Help line

The organisation operates a helpline 9am-5pm Monday-Friday.

Guides

The organisation publishes the following guides: *Guide for families of cyclists killed by HGVs *Inquests and road deaths *Road death investigation guide for bereaved families *Writing a testimony *You and your Family Liaison Officer (FLO) *A guide for World Day of Remembrance for Traffic Victims published It also publishes various briefing sheets: *Crash not accident *Roadside memorials *Victim surcharge and speeding

References

External links