Poignant memorial pays tribute to those killed or injured on the county’s roads

Members of the public are being encouraged to visit one of two memorials created to remember those who tragically lost their lives or were injured in a road collision in Northamptonshire last year.

The poignant displays have been organised by Northamptonshire Police Roads Policing officer PC Emilie Bunkall as part of this year’s annual RoadPeace Challenge (May 13-19), which aims to raise awareness of the devastating impact of road collisions.

This is the third consecutive year that Emilie has set up a powerful and moving memorial for people to visit and remember loved ones who never returned home safely or had their lives changed forever.

Each static display is made up of 29 black silhouettes of road users, signifying the true cost of road collisions in our county – with each one representing a loved one who lost their life on the county’s roads in 2023.

Alongside the silhouettes there are 242 doves, with each bird representing someone who sustained a serious injury on our roads, and 1,318 county flags to mark the number of people who received a minor injury in a collision.

Emilie knows first-hand of the devastating impact and heartbreak a road death has on those left behind after her mum Julie was killed in a collision on the A6 at Burton Latimer in 2013. It’s this personal experience which is the driving force behind her dedication and commitment to raise awareness of the road death endemic in the UK.

For a second year, Northampton road safety campaigners Nicole and Chris Taylor, who sadly lost their 18-year-old daughter Beccy in a road collision in 2008, helped Emilie to create the displays at both parks with each taking more than eight hours to set up.

While at Wicksteed Park it was a family affair as Emilie was joined by her sister Lesley, niece Sophie, great niece Frankie and close friend Kim-Marina to set up the display close to one of the park’s most popular attractions, the train station.

Emilie said: “On June 6, 2013, my world shattered when on duty, I heard over the police radio that my beautiful mum had been killed in a collision. I found myself walking in the footsteps of those I had supported, and for the first time truly felt their heartbreak.

“As you can imagine this was heart-breaking and life-changing for us all. I could not believe I was walking the road I had guided so many families along. The trauma and day-to-day reality were far harder than I had ever imagined.

“I thought I could no longer be an officer, but my mum was incredibly proud of my traffic role, and this has given me the strength to continue and play my part in striving to improve road safety.

“In Northamptonshire alone, 1,589 people were injured on our roads last year however, this does not reflect the true cost of road collisions in the county. For every casualty, there are many more people who have also had their lives changed forever.

“The RoadPeace Challenge 2024 aims to get the public talking about the impact of road deaths and I hope that the displays at both Abington Park and Wicksteed Park will provide a meeting point for people to do just that.

“Last year, we had people visiting the memorial at Abington Park, who told us that either they had lost a loved one, a member of their family had been injured or they had been involved in a collision themselves. It was very emotional.”

In addition to the displays, Emilie has organised a FREE a multi-agency road safety event which will be held at Abington Park, near to the Wellingborough Road entrance, between 10am and 2pm on Saturday, May 18.

For more information about this event, click here.