Island Roads is supporting a local road safety campaign that aims to encourage safer driving over the festive period and beyond.
The campaign has been launched by the parents of Evey Staley who was just ten when she was killed outside her home in Cowes by an intoxicated and speeding driver.
Neil and Penny Staley are now asking people to make the Isle Drive Safely: Remember Evey pledge – a personal commitment to follow a series of common sense principles of safe and considerate driving.
Island Roads are among the first organisations to support the campaign. Service Director Paul Herbert has made the pledge and staff have been asked to do the same. Island Roads has also agreed to work with the charity in other areas.
Paul said: “We take road safety extremely seriously and our drivers attend continual driver training. We expect them to always travel safely both while they are at work and also in their own time. I am happy to take the pledge myself and have encouraged all Island Roads staff to do the same.”
Neal and Penny are hoping the campaign will be backed by other companies and well-known people across the Island, and that hundreds will take the safe driving pledge and make it a lifelong commitment.
“We can never bring Evey back and as you can imagine, this sense of loss is particularly poignant at this time of the year. But if our efforts to highlight the importance of driving safely prevent just one other family having to go through the nightmare that we endure to this day then we can draw some comfort,” said Neal.
“The pledge does not ask anything difficult of motorists. It just asks them to keep within the law and to follow basic principles of common sense. Just by driving in that way they will be making an important and possibly life-saving contribution to keeping our roads safer.”
Neal and Penny were both in their car with ten-year-old Evey a back seat passenger when they were hit by a speeding car as they manoeuvred out of their driveway in August 2012. Evey died as a result of her injuries and Neil and Penny were also both severely hurt.
Neal said: “Our daughter was taken from us in a criminal act by someone who showed no regard for the law or for the safety of other road users. But not all accidents are like that and even momentary lapses in judgement, poor decision making or not driving in accordance with the speed limits and prevailing conditions can have devastating consequences.
“Taking a personal pledge – and sticking to that commitment – is not onerous but it really could help prevent an accident.”
You can find out more about the pledge on http://www.isledrivesafeiw.com/projects.html
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