Why we need the media to join the dots on road danger

If you’re someone who follows the news and cares about road safety, chances are the Today programme left you frustrated more than once this week.

First came a segment revisiting the case of Harry Dunn - the teenager killed by a driver who was not arrested and quickly fled the UK. The story rightly focused on police failures and the lack of justice for his family. But it missed something crucial. Harry’s death, while particularly high-profile, was not an isolated incident. On average, five people die on Britain’s roads every day. Families up and down the country are dealing with similar losses, often without the media attention or political outrage.

A quick call to RoadPeace - the charity supporting families bereaved by road violence - would have revealed this. They would have pointed out that young people dying in road collisions is devastatingly common, and that road harm, unlike other public health crises, rarely gets the sustained attention it deserves.

Then came this morning's segment on e-bikes. In it, Iain Duncan Smith MP voiced concerns about e-bikes, citing a rise in road danger. Yet again, the discussion unfolded without context. No mention of the fact that e-bikes, are a relatively insignificant threat on our roads. No mention of the 1,600 people killed each year in incidents involving motor vehicles. No challenge to the underlying assumption that cyclists are the problem.

This isn’t just about two radio segments - it’s about how we talk about road danger more broadly. Too often, the media treats road violence as a series of one-off events. A crash here. A collision there. Rarely do we step back and ask: why does this keep happening? Who is most at risk? What systemic changes could prevent it?

It’s not just frustrating - it’s dangerous. Because without context, public perception becomes skewed. We overlook speeding, mobile phone use, poorly designed roads, and a lack of enforcement. We focus on individual behaviour instead of the systems that shape it.

The way road danger is reported matters. Language shapes how we think, who we blame, and what action we demand. When the media fails to give us the full picture, we miss the chance to have an informed conversation and ultimately, to make our roads safer for everyone.

Of course, this absence of context isn’t unique to road safety - it’s a wider issue in how the media reports news. The fast pace of the news cycle favours headlines over depth, focusing on individual events without exploring the systems behind them. Whether it’s road harm, climate change, or healthcare, stories are too often reduced to soundbites, leaving audiences with a fragmented understanding of complex issues.

In the case of road danger, this tendency is especially harmful. Without broader context, the root causes - such as car dominance, poor infrastructure, and lack of political will—remain hidden, and real solutions stay out of reach.

We owe it to the hundreds who die or are seriously injured on our roads every week to join the dots.

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