The Road Victims Trust: Supporting Families, Shaping Safe Roads
The Road Victims Trust (RVT) provides free, specialist counselling and practical support to individuals and families affected by fatal and life-changing road collisions across Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire. Every year, hundreds of people experience the trauma of losing a loved one or sustaining serious injuries. RVT’s trained volunteers and professional staff deliver thousands of hours of counselling each year, offering expert care at a critical time in people’s lives.
This vital work gives RVT an unparalleled insight into the lived experiences of road collision victims and their families. By amplifying these voices, RVT ensures that the human consequences of road collisions are not overlooked in wider discussions on transport safety and active travel. Beyond post-collision care, RVT is a key partner in local road safety networks, working alongside local authorities, enforcement agencies and statutory bodies to shape initiatives that prevent future tragedies. Its forthcoming strategy will place an even greater focus on prevention, ensuring the Trust contributes not only to compassionate support but also to long-term casualty reduction.
The Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Vision Zero Partnership unites agencies, emergency services, and voluntary organisations to eliminate all road deaths and serious injuries by 2040. Guided by the Safe System, it focuses on safe roads, vehicles, speeds, people, and post-collision response. The Road Victims Trust ensures victims’ voices are heard and post-collision care stays central to the strategy. RVT also supports Vision Zero partnerships in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.
Why the Road Victims Trust Joined PACTS
RVT joined PACTS to be part of a collective effort towards safer roads and a more compassionate response to collisions. The Trust shares PACTS’ belief that road safety must be approached holistically. Prevention is vital, but when collisions do occur, those affected must receive the highest standards of care and justice.
Through membership, RVT is able to bring the experiences of victims and families into national road safety discussions, ensuring that their perspectives inform policy and system design. The partnership also enables RVT to engage with a network of experts, policymakers, and practitioners across the transport safety field, strengthening its own work and supporting shared progress towards Vision Zero.
Current Focus: Challenges and Opportunities
The greatest challenge facing RVT, and the wider road safety community, is the persistent number of serious and fatal collisions across the UK. Each case represents a devastating personal story, and the emotional impact on families is profound. Compounding this is the lack of central government funding for post-collision support. Organisations like RVT must rely heavily on local partnerships, donations, and fundraising to sustain their services.
Yet this challenge also presents an opportunity. There is growing recognition that victim support is not separate from road safety. It is an integral part of it. Embedding post-collision care within the Safe System approach can help ensure a more comprehensive and compassionate national response. RVT is committed to demonstrating that supporting victims, raising awareness of the human cost of collisions, and advocating for prevention are interconnected goals.
RVT’s vision is clear. A society where road collisions are dramatically reduced, and where every person affected by tragedy receives the care, compassion, and justice they deserve.
