Families of road death victims in safety campaign

A tree containing letters from families is on display until Sunday

A display bearing personal messages from families whose loved ones have died in road collisions has been unveiled.

The letter tree was created by Transport for West Midlands in partnership with crash victims charity RoadPeace, West Midlands Police and local councils.

The installation marks the start of Road Safety Week.

Diane Gall, whose husband Martyn was killed while cycling in Alvechurch five years ago, said: "My husband's missed out on so many life milestones that have happened since he's he's gone, and it's really sad that he's not here to experience life."

"I miss him terribly and I just want the driver it to realise what her actions have done," she said.

The purple figure is on display in Brindleyplace in Birmingham until Sunday and will then tour the region until February.

Last year a regional road Safety Action Plan was introduced, aiming to cut the number of people killed on the roads in half by 2030.

For Sonia Gandham, she wants the memory of her 19-year-old brother Arjun to live on.

"I want it to be the thing that wakes people up and makes them realise that just because you didn't intend to sit in the car, make a mistake, make some poor decisions and kill somebody, doesn't mean that it can't happen," Ms Gandham said.

The unveiling also marked the launch of a social media campaign, Zero Tolerance to Road Harm, featuring relatives reading personal messages to their lost loved ones or the drivers responsible for taking their lives.

Mat MacDonald, the Road Safety Commissioner for the West Midlands, said a region without road injuries or deaths was possible.

"We know that there are 1,200 places in the world which have achieved Vision Zero where no-one is killed or seriously injured on the road, and there's no reason that we should expect anything less for ourselves in the West Midlands," he said.