Every 17 minutes* on average someone dies or is seriously injured on UK roads.

Some 1,695 people were killed and 28,967 seriously hurt on UK roads in 2023 alone. The figures are sobering, and for the relatives left behind nothing can ever make up for losing a loved one.

For the families of those who die in crashes that were the fault of other drivers, their grief will include feelings of anger and bitterness that the deaths were needless, because they were caused by someone else’s negligence.

In England and Wales statutory bereavement damages are paid to eligible family members in the event of a death caused by another party's negligence or breach of duty. The fixed payment of just over £15,000 is to compensate for losing a relative in such circumstances whether that was in a road crash, during medical treatment, or an incident at work.

Of course, no amount of compensation can ever make up for the death of a loved one. But the payment aims to serve as an acknowledgement from the state of the grief and suffering caused by a death in such negligent circumstances.

But the law was out of touch with what constitutes a family when it was passed more than 40 years ago, so is totally archaic today. It excludes adult children, grandparents, grandchildren, and perhaps most shockingly, fathers who were not married or in a civil partnership with the mother of a child when that child was born. This jars with the reality that almost half of all children born in England and Wales today are born to parents who are not married or in civil partnerships.

We all know that it is not unusual for a father who wasn’t married or in a civil partnership with the mother when their child was born to play a full and active role in the child’s life – even if he does not live under the same roof and to have a close and loving bond with that child.  It is also not unusual for parents to marry later, after their children were born. That is just modern life and how modern families work.

Any relative who has been informed they are not eligible for bereavement damages after losing a loved one due to someone else’s negligence will tell you it is like a further kick in the teeth when they are already battling with grief. Relatives are made to feel that the bonds they had with their loved ones, which may be the most important and enduring relationships in their lives, are somehow worth little to society that with this outdated law signals that it didn’t matter.   

Scotland has a modern law which for many years has recognised the closeness between many different family members. It is time for England and Wales to follow suit and introduce a law which recognises modern families, and provides compensation amounts on a case-by-case basis. This would be the fair way to do it.

World Day of Remembrance for road traffic victims is on 17 November, which is also the start of Road Safety Week (17-23 November) hosted by road safety charity Brake. It is a time to remember and honour the thousands of lives lost on our roads and acknowledge the loved ones left behind.

APIL is campaigning for the Government to modernise the law on bereavement damages in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland to make it fairer for families who have lost loved ones due to someone else’s negligence.

Read more about APIL campaigns here.

*Figures from Brake, reflecting a ten-year average from 2014-2023.