Indian-origin woman launches UK campaign for seat belt after 12-year-son’s death in car crash
An Indian-origin mother, who lost her 12-year-old son in a car crash in Britain nearly two years ago, has launched a ‘seat belt campaign’ in his memory to highlight the importance of wearing seat belts while driving.
An Indian-origin mother, who lost her 12-year-old son in a car crash in Britain nearly two years ago, has launched a ‘seat belt campaign’ in his memory to highlight the importance of wearing seat belts while driving.
Sukhi Atwal has released CCTV footage of the crash in May 2015 to show the moment her son, Amar, was hit by a speeding taxi and flung because he was not wearing a seat belt. He died in a Birmingham hospital days later.
“We will never get over the loss of Amar. He was such a bright, intelligent, fun-loving boy. He was an innocent victim of the crash and there is now a huge hole which can never be filled in our lives,” his mother told the Birmingham Mail.
“Wearing a seat belt could have saved his life, at the very least it would have given him a better chance of survival. We can never get Amar back, but I just hope by encouraging both young and old to try and be as safe as possible, they won’t have to go through the heartbreak we have,” she said.
The speeding taxi driver, 35-year-old Nadeem Hussain, was found guilty of ignoring ‘give way’ instructions when he drove across a junction without stopping or braking in West Bromwich in the West Midlands region of England.
He was jailed for six years for causing death by dangerous driving and two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
West Midlands Police has now produced a video featuring images of Amar and Sukhi that will be used during school talks.
Special constable Clive Broadhurst said, “I regularly go around schools to give road safety advice and urge pupils to be strapped in. It can prevent serious injuries or even save your life.
“It has been the law for more than 30 years to wear a seatbelt and only takes a few seconds to buckle up, but it is still surprising the amount of people who don’t. It is very brave of Sukhi to share her experience and hopefully it will hit home how wearing a seat belt can make a difference,” he said.
She does not want any other family to suffer the heartbreak she has had to endure, Broadhurst said.