Road Safety Fund Endorsed by Man Who Lost Family in Crash

A man whose partner and unborn child were tragically killed by a dangerous driver has expressed support for a new £1 million fund established to enhance road safety. Frankie Jules-Hough, the partner of Calvin Buckley, died in May 2023 after being struck by a motorist on the M66 who was recording himself with his phone while driving at a speed of 123mph. The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has introduced this fund, which is designed to decrease the number of deaths and severe, life-altering injuries. Mr. Buckley stated that these funds could assist “a lot of people and projects out there that need funding so they can make a difference and start saving lives”. Currently, Mr. Buckley serves as a road safety advocate, expressing his desire to contribute to saving lives “in the name of my partner and unborn child”. He is actively working towards establishing his own road safety academy, an aspiration he described as “is the only thing that gets me out of bed in the morning”. He further commented, “If I wasn’t campaigning, I wouldn’t have a life. Everything that I’d been working for, my dreams, all went in an instant.” This GMCA fund is accessible to members of the Safer Roads Greater Manchester Partnership and may be allocated to initiatives involving engineering, education, training, or enforcement. Kate Green, who holds the position of the region’s deputy mayor, indicated that she is seeking diverse proposals. She mentioned, “We’ve already got Community Speed Watch for example, where people use devices to spot the speed, grab the number plate and feed the information in to the police.” Dame Sarah Store currently holds the role of Active Travel Commissioner for Greater Manchester. During the unveiling of the fund, the Paralympian recounted that she will never forget “that feeling of terror” from when she was struck by a car while cycling near Westhoughton in 2006. She stated, “The car bonnet hit my left hip and I was powerless to stop it flinging me across the roundabout”. The combined authority has adopted Vision Zero, a road safety improvement objective that seeks to eradicate road fatalities and life-altering injuries by the year 2040. Throughout 2023, 45 individuals died and 754 sustained serious injuries on Greater Manchester’s roads. In contrast, the region recorded 126 fatalities in 2003. For more content, listeners can access the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. Story suggestions can also be submitted to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk and via Whatsapp at 0808 100 2230. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC disclaims responsibility for the content found on external websites. Information regarding our external linking policy is available.