Susan Elan Jones, MP for Clwyd South, has been given a prestigious national road safety award for her long-running campaign for tougher sentences for drivers who kill or seriously injure.
Susan was named as one of two Parliamentarians of the Year for 2014 by road safety charity Brake.
She received the award at the charity’s annual reception at the Houses of Parliament, which was supported by Direct Line. The event marked the beginning of Brake’s 20th anniversary year.
Susan launched her campaign after the tragic death of nine-year-old Robert Gaunt, who was run over and killed in her constituency in 2009. The driver had no licence, no insurance and failed to stop when he hit Robert. He was given a 22 month prison sentence, but served just 10 months.
After being contacted by Robert Gaunt’s family and other local residents outraged by the lack of justice following Robert’s death, Susan determined to take up the call in Parliament. Since then, Susan has been in regular contact with the family and has written letters, worked in the media, tabled parliamentary questions and lobbied ministers with the aim of securing a review of penalties for serious driving offences.
In January 2014, Susan brought forward her Driving Offences (Review of Sentencing Guidelines) Bill, securing cross-party support. Introducing the bill, she called for the government to review maximum jail sentences for driving that causes death and serious injury, especially for unlicensed and hit and run drivers.
Although it did not receive a second reading, Susan’s bill set the tone for many other MPs campaigning on this issue in 2014, many of who have been spurred by similar experiences of injustice in their own community. Susan has been at the forefront of debates on driving offences and penalties throughout the year, helping to keep the issue high on the political agenda, and a wide-ranging review by the Ministry of Justice is now ongoing.
Susan also spoke out loudly on other important road safety issues in 2014, joining Brake in condemning the government’s decision to raise the speed limit for HGVs on single carriageways, which she described as “daft and dangerous”.
An award-winning UK road safety initiative is being rolled out globally by the FIA, the world motoring organisation.
The AA Charitable Trust’s Think Bikes campaign, which launched last March, is being launched across Europe, the Middle East and Africa by the FIA, the world motoring organisation and it encourages all drivers to do a double-take in their mirrors for those on two wheels so now has the potential to reach millions more drivers across the 111 motoring clubs within this region.
