After Amy - our new road safety campaign

The date of 13 November 2022 is one that will never be forgotten by those who loved Amy. The consequences of the head on collision, on a foggy day near Holbeach, were catastrophic. Amy was travelling home on her Kawasaki motorbike when the driver of a BMW crossed to the wrong side of the road to overtake another vehicle. Amy’s life was cut short in the most horrific and violent way because of this dangerous decision by a man who then left her dying in the road. Amy’s mum, Amanda, explained the sheer force of the impact, “She was thrown about 60 yards down the road. Her injuries were extensive. Her bike was embedded in the car. Her rucksack was found 20 feet up a tree.”

In a new road safety video, Amy’s family speak about living in the before and after, with their lives split forever into two dimensions in the moment Amy was killed. Amanda explained, “There's just this big hole now where Amy should be. I keep going. I have family to care for. I need to go to work. Grief doesn't pay the bills. But she's never far from my thoughts. I can go along for a while being kind of numb and coping, but then every now and again, I still get this feeling of just despair and this sickness in the pit of my stomach, like somebody's just kicked me; that this is real. She's really not coming back.”

Amy’s sister, Sam, talks about the most difficult thing she has had to do in her life – telling her daughter. “I'll never forget that conversation and I had just this crushing guilt that I need to introduce my 5-year-old to the concept of death and that her Auntie Amy, who she loved to pieces, has died and you'll never see her again.”

Despite their grief, or perhaps because of it, Amy’s family are utterly determined to improve road safety. In memory of Amy, they are asking people to take more care on the roads, think carefully about the decisions they make, and consider the devastation that can be caused by a split-second error of judgement.

Sam said, “I want Amy's legacy to be that somebody takes a moment and thinks what happened to her, you could so easily cause to happen to someone else. You could be the safest driver in the world - but it's that one decision. You take that chance, and Amy could be coming in the other direction. Somebody's Amy, your Amy, could be coming in that direction. And then that's it. That's somebody's life over. That's your whole life changed as well.”

It is not just persistent offenders who cause these tragedies; every single driver and rider on our roads has the potential to devastate lives through a split-second wrong decision. It is too easy to assume it can't happen to you because you think you are a good road user. Data from the Department for Transport has “ineffective observation” as the top Road Safety Factor leading to a collision. This was recorded in 53% of collisions attended by police. The message is that every road user could fail to consider a potential hazard, and that failure could be deadly. Every road user should consider this campaign to be directed at them and when in charge of a vehicle, we need to remember Amy, and the countless people who have been killed or seriously injured on our roads, and we need to raise our game.

Amanda’s message is this: “I just wish people would take a deep breath, step back and think, is it worth it? Do I really need to be there 30 seconds quicker? Is it worth risking that overtake when you can't see what's coming, whether there's a bend, or a bridge, or the visibility is not great. It's not worth it. That could be your child, that could be your partner, your friend that is killed or severely injured.”

In the video ‘After Amy,’ we learn from a grieving mum and sister about this brilliant and beautiful girl who deserved to live her life. They talk about the trauma they faced and vast numbers of people affected by this tragedy; not only everyone who knew Amy but also the emergency services, witnesses and local communities. We also gain a picture of the girl who was killed. Sam describes Amy as having had immense energy and endless ideas. “She always wanted to be doing something completely wild and every other week you wouldn't know what she'd planned to do next. I think the last time we spoke before she died, she'd planned out this lovely trip to take her little 125 bike across the Middle East, across Syria. That encapsulates Amy as a person. Just absolutely wild.”

Amy will never have the chance now to realise her crazy plans. Her mum sums this up saying, “She has been robbed of her whole adult life. It just is so unfair.”

With Amy at the heart of it, this is a brutal, deeply honest and heartfelt insight into the devastating and everlasting impact of a fatal collision. This is ‘After Amy.’ Watch the video here: After Amy | Lincolnshire Police