BEHIND every death or life-changing injury as a result of a road accident is a harrowing story of pain and suffering, not only for the victim, but their family and friends.

One such victim was Bolton pensioner Mildred Florence – a lively and active grandmother whose life was destroyed by a taxi driver who was looking at his mobile phone when he struck her in March 2015.

The independent minded 78-year-old suffered such bad injuries that she had to move to a care home and was confined to a wheelchair until her death in June this year.

READ MORE: Tragic gran was never the same after horror crash with taxi 

Today, her devastated son David Fields has spoken out as a Bolton News investigation found more than 600 people were injured on the town's roads last year and the number of drivers prosecuted for causing serious injuries on the roads has soared by more than 50 per cent.

 

Mr Fields said his mum's injury had a major impact on his mum and her family as they struggled to come to terms with her vastly reduced mobility and the gruelling physiotherapy she had to endure for her shattered leg and broken ribs.

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“To watch your mother cry because she is in so much pain is heart rending,” said Mr Fields. “It is quite distressing to see your mum in this position. She would burst into tears and say ‘what have I done to deserve this in my life'.”

Mr Fields describes the recent increase in road casualties and the rise in dangerous driving cases as “frustrating”.

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He said: “Drivers don’t understand the impact. It doesn’t just impact on the people they have hit, the ripples go out far further and longer.”

He believes people forget the implications of what they can do and the harm they can cause when they get behind the wheel of a vehicle.

“There should not be anything that takes away the ability of concentrate on driving,” he said.

“When I see people driving badly I cringe because they clearly do not appreciate what could go wrong because of their decisions and activities.”

While, nationally, the number of people killed on the roads is lower than 10 years ago, the death rate and serious injury rates on Bolton’s roads over the period has, stubbornly, refused to fall.

Last year 646 people were injured on Bolton’s roads, 79 of them were seriously hurt and six people lost their lives.

The number of instances of causing death or serious injury by unlawful driving has soared nationally over the last fifteen years too.

Government statistics show that in the period 2002 to 2003 police recorded 469 incidents of death or serious injury caused by unlawful driving. But the latest figures available, from 2017-2018, reveal that there were 723 offences – a dramatic 54 per cent increase.

Bolton Council’s cabinet member for transport and highways David Chadwick is concerned about the levels of deaths and injuries on our roads, particularly among young people.

Last week he attended a presentation of Safe Drive Stay Alive, aimed at young drivers aged up to 25.

Cllr Chadwick said: “Members of the emergency services told their harrowing stories of the deaths of young people in Greater Manchester road traffic accidents. To many young drivers fail to recognise that speed limits are the maximum speed and not the minimum.

“I have, personally, seen on many occasions where drivers drive past me at excessive speeds and when arriving at the next set of traffic lights, the young driver is waiting for the traffic lights to change.

“There are too many occasions where pedestrians are killed or seriously injured by speeding young drivers.

“Between January 2007 and December 2016 in Greater Manchester 164 people died in crashes involving a young driver and a further 1,564 were seriously injured.”

Road safety charity Brake is also concerned about the levels of deaths and serious injuries in Greater Manchester.

Joshua Harris, director of campaigns at Brake, the road safety charity, said: “The tragic increase in deaths and serious injuries on Greater Manchester’s roads is cause for concern.

“We urge the Government to make roads policing an investment priority and to be bold when it comes to road safety policy, addressing fundamental issues such as speed and drink-driving. Road safety in the UK has stagnated since 2010 and bold action is needed to make the next step change and help keep our roads safe.”

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Last year the Government announced it wanted to introduce tougher sentences for drivers who cause deaths of serious injuries, including life terms for those who kill. But ministers have yet to say when legislation will be introduced to implement them.

Mr Harris said: “It is completely unacceptable that these new tougher sentences have not yet been implemented. The Government needs to focus its attention on the issues which matter most to road safety - delivering justice for road crash victims and keeping dangerous drivers off our roads.

“Drivers who kill or seriously injure all too often receive lenient sentences. By delaying the introduction of new tougher sentences, the Government is causing further suffering to families who have lost loved ones in road crashes.”

In the meantime, after the current horrendous spate of road deaths in the region, police are appealing to motorists to take extra care. Chief Insp Gareth Parkin of Greater Manchester Police’s road policing unit said: “This has certainly been the busiest period I have known in my time with GMP. It’s difficult to say why this is the case, but we are appealing to members of the public to take their time when they are driving and to take into consideration the fact that the vehicle they are driving could potentially kill or seriously injure someone.

“If you are planning a journey, give yourself plenty of time. Many accidents occur when people are rushing to and from work.

“My advice is – be late. It’s not an offence to be late. We would rather that than you killing yourself or someone else.”

This month Greater Manchester Police launched its None for the Road Christmas campaign early due to a spate of deaths and injuries.

It comes just days after a teenage cyclist was killed and another man critically injured in Oldham, an eight year-old girl died in Monton and woman was killed and man hurt in Middleton and two children were critically ill following collisions in Heywood.