THE hardest part of the job for traffic officer PC Dave Newton is knocking on the door of the family of an accident victim.

It is his job to deliver the devastating news that a father, mother, son or daughter or other loved one, will not be coming home ever again.

Every day he sees firsthand the devastation dangerous drivers cause.

And the 49-year-old says the knock on the door of a victim’s family never gets easier but the frustration with dangerous drivers grows year by year.

Police traffic officers are at the frontline in the battle against dangerous driving and they see the shattering consequences it can have.

Whether victims are seriously injured, or even killed, it is their job to get to the truth behind the crash and help those families who find themselves trapped in a living nightmare.

“The worse thing is the knock on the door, and they know straight away because their loved one might be late home and we are there instead,” said PC Newton.

“Then they go to pieces.

“They can’t believe it’s true because their husband or child always comes home.”

PC Newton, aged 49, has been a serving police officer for 25 years and specialist traffic officer for the last 15.

His role is not only to act as an investigator but also a family liaison officer.

He said: “A family at that time will have so many needs.

“It might be that the person who has died or is seriously injured is the breadwinner and they don’t know how they will pay the mortgage. We have got to help and take them through it all.”

“Sometimes you try and put it behind you, but it’s always there at the end of the day.”

Despite his years of experience, seeing the carnage of a serious crash and dealing with seriously injured and sometimes dying victims is something that never gets easy.

“It’s not nice for anybody really.

“What you tend to do is put your professional head on,” said PC Newton.

“You seem to switch off being a human and you become a traffic officer, doing what you have been trained to do.”

“It’s only afterwards that you think about the things you’ve seen.

“They stay with you, without a doubt.”

Their priority is always the victim, then they secure the scene for forensic officers and begin taking witnesses statements.

Sometimes the crash caused by dangerous driving, careless driving, or a simple lack of concentration on the part of the driver.

But, whatever the cause, the results can prove deadly tearing the lives of families apart and causing misery and heartache.

“You sometimes wish you could turn back time and get these people and educate them. People should take pride in their driving and drive safely and responsibly and think about the consequences their actions could have.”

Christopher Marr, the dangerous driver who ploughed into schoolgirl Devon Foster, leaving her fighting for her life, and four of her friends, was jailed for just 26 months.

Judge Steven Everett, who sentenced Marr at Bolton Crown Court, has written to Prime Minister David Cameron, Justice Secretary Ken Clarke and the Lord Chief Justice, calling for the maximum sentence for dangerous drives who cause injury to be increased. And 14-yearold Devon, along with more than 700 people have already signed our petition calling for the law to be changed.