Road safety partners and the public showed how important improving road safety is to them in Warwickshire by walking, running, cycling or horse-riding a total of 593.5 miles in support of the RoadPeace Challenge between 13 and 19 May 2024.  

During the week, 171 people took part including local schools walking every day and one officer completed a triathlon over the weekend. Each mile achieved during the week represents someone who has been killed on our roads and the RoadPeace Challenge is in honour of their memory.    

At a special event at Hartshill Hayes Country Park on Friday 17 May, 120 people joined Warwickshire, Staffordshire, and Derbyshire road safety partnerships, Project Edward, The British Horse Society and road safety campaigners, Patsy and Robbin Suffield for a guided walk to make a united stand against road death and injury. Together, they walked a total of 240 miles.  

To honour the 19 people killed on Warwickshire’s roads in 2022, Chris Lewis of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Warwickshire, James Luckhurst of Project EDWARD (Every Day Without A Road Death) and several others ran 19 miles across Coventry and Warwickshire to join the Hartshill Hayes event.     

Nationally, 1766 people were killed on UK roads and the number of miles covered during the week by Chris, James and supporters at Hartshill Hayes Country Park and across Warwickshire were recorded and submitted to RoadPeace in the count down from 1,766 to zero – to reflect our Vision for Zero deaths on our roads.     

Philip Seccombe, Police and Crime Commissioner for Warwickshire and Chair of Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership said: “Road safety is something we should never take for granted because it affects us all. The loss of lives on our roads is a powerful reminder of why our work is so important.   

“This event shows our community’s dedication to reducing road fatalities and striving towards our vision of zero deaths on our roads. I’m grateful to everyone who took part and especially the team of runners who made the journey from Leek Wootton to Hartshill Hayes, representing a mile for every life lost on the county’s roads in 2022.  

“By joining the RoadPeace Challenge, we not only remember those we’ve lost but also re-dedicate ourselves to our work to make our roads safer. From educational programmes to improving road infrastructure and enforcing traffic laws, all partners are committed to making a difference and meeting our target to halve death and serious injury on Warwickshire’s roads by 2030.”  

Robbin and Patsy Suffield from Warwickshire lost their 18 year old son Neil when he was killed as a passenger along with four of his teenage friends in Leicestershire in 1986 in a 17 year old driver’s car. They have been campaigning for many years for change to help prevent young driver crashes most recently as part of Forget-me-not Familes Uniting.  

Patsy and Robbin Suffield said “We were delighted to join the event at Hartshill Hayes Country Park and join like-minded people who are doing what they can to improve road safety for everyone and highlight the need for change.   

“On Sunday 19 May, we went to the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire for the final mile of the 1766-mile RoadPeace Challenge to bring the week of action to a close. We met many other families sharing similar tragic stories and a common campaign through Forget-me-not Families Uniting to help prevent young driver crashes.”  

Chris Lewis from OPCC said ‘It was a complete honour to contribute to the RoadPeace Challenge and very empowering to see so much support in Warwickshire. I am very grateful for that. We are determined that road victims are not forgotten and I and many others are determined to help those affected by tragic road crashes deal with their grief and pain. Today was a very memorable moment, but the battle must go on to make our roads safer everywhere’.   

James Luckhurst from Project Edward said “On behalf of project EDWARD it was an honour to arrive at Hartshill Hayes on foot, having done our bit to remember the 19 lives lost on Warwickshire’s roads in 2022. Nothing we do can ever make good the devastation of losing a loved one in a road collision, but we can do our best to help change minds and promote safer road use across the county and beyond. Working together is the only way of achieving this.”  

Alan Hiscox, Director of Safety at The British Horse Society who attended on horseback to raise awareness of the need to pass horses wide and slow said “It was a great opportunity to support Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership at this event, to highlight RoadPeace but also to increase the awareness of equestrian safety on our roads.”  

To see photos taken during the RoadPeace Challenge in Warwickshire please visit @WarwickshireRoadSafety on Facebook and @WarksRoadSafety on Twitter and nationally @RoadPeaceCharity on Facebook, @RoadPeace on Facebook and @roadpeacecharity on Instagram using the hashtag #RoadPeaceChallenge2024 & #1766MilesTogether   

More information about the RoadPeace Challenge including the national results can be found here The RoadPeace Challenge – RoadPeace   

More information about Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership can be found on www.warksroadsafety.org    

PHOTO: Seeing the runners off from Leek Wootton 

Left to right: Second from left, Alan Hiscox The British Horse Society (on horseback), Ian Greenman Project EDWARD, Lucy Marchi, Chris Lewis OPCC, Alex Frankin-Smith Deputy Chief Constable, James Luckhurst Project EDWARD, Philip Seccombe Chair of Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership and Police and Crime Commissioner, PCSO Hannah Croxson, Emma Daniell Deputy PCC designate 

PHOTO: the runners arriving at Hartshill Hayes 

PHOTO: The guided walk starting at Hartshill Hayes