Art Bypass, Newbury. Photo: Philip Wolmuth.

Road Rage

One Hundred Year Slaughter

Squall 14, Autumn 1996, pg. 54.

A rally held by victims of road traffic accidents marked the centenary of the first fatal car accident in August.

Since the death of Bridget Driscoll, a housewife from Croydon, on August 17 1896, 25 million people have died on the world’s roads - more than in any war, plague or famine.

In Britain half a million have died and 30 million have been injured. Ten people die a day and 850 are injured.

Mrs Driscoll met her death while on her way to attend a folk dancing festival at Crystal Palace, London. She was hit by the last of three cars belonging to the Anglo-French Motor Car Company which were giving demonstration rides. The coroner set a precedent by returning a verdict of accidental death.

Brigitte Chaudhri, who helped set up the charity Roadpeace which organised the rally on the spot of Mrs Driscoll’s death, said that “Road danger” is now the biggest threat to children.

“In every other form of transport death there are major investigations,” Ms Chaudhri said. “With road deaths the only concern is to get the road cleared as quickly as possible.”

A mother who lost her 15-year old son last year when he stepped off a bus, Zoe Stow, said: “The attitude is a number of road deaths each year is the price we pay for mobility. That is offensive.”