Local MP Calls for Tougher Action on Dangerous Driving as She Shares Personal Family Tragedy
- Feb 5
- 3 min read
Shipley MP Anna Dixon has today urged the Government to take bold action to tackle dangerous driving, drawing on her own family’s experience of losing a loved one in a fatal road collision.
Speaking during a backbench parliamentary debate, which was led and secured by Ms Dixon, on road safety, the MP described how her grandfather, Herbert Bilsby, was killed on the A65 near Hellifield in 1969 when a lorry collided with his car as he attempted to overtake.
“This fatal collision shaped my family’s life,” she said. “I never knew my grandfather. My grandmother was left widowed and disabled, and my parents moved to Ilkley so my mum could care for her for nearly 30 years. Road collisions happen in a split second, yet their impact lasts a lifetime.”
The MP welcomed the Government’s new Road Safety Strategy, which aims to reduce deaths and serious injuries on Britain’s roads by 65% by 2035. The strategy includes several proposals, such as a minimum learning period for new drivers, reviewing drink- and drug-driving penalties, and introducing penalty points for failing to wear a seatbelt.
Anna Dixon, however, urged ministers to go further in protecting young and newly qualified drivers. In 2024, drivers aged 17–24 were involved in 27% of fatal collisions in West Yorkshire, despite being a small proportion of road users.
She pointed to the success of Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) in countries such as Australia, where fatal collisions fell by 30% after its introduction. “Why should young drivers in Northern Ireland get protections that young drivers in the rest of the UK don’t?” she asked, calling for measures such as limits on young passengers and restrictions on night‑time driving.
The Shipley MP went on to say: “Dangerous driving isn’t a rarity, it’s become embedded in our culture. Too many people feel entitled to drive dangerously without fear of consequences. This has to change so that other families do not have to suffer as mine did.
“Residents across the Shipley constituency raise road safety as a top priority. That is why I am pleased this Labour Government is taking action to make our roads safer.
“The Road Safety Strategy is ambitious and comprehensive, takes a systems approach and includes all road users. I would urge the government to move swiftly to implement the matters it’s consulting on.”
In response, Lilian Greenwood MP, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, said: “I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Anna Dixon) for her powerful and moving speech in opening today’s debate, and thank so many on both sides of the House for their thoughtful and heartfelt contributions. I wish we had more time for the debate; I know I will not be able to respond to all the points raised, so I will endeavour to write to people if I do not manage to answer their questions today.
"Drink-driving continues to cause too many deaths and injuries. The drink-drive limit has not been lowered since it was first legislated for in 1967, and our understanding of impairment has developed. To support a shift in social acceptability, we will work with our THINK! campaign and alcohol brands to encourage people to choose drinks with 0% alcohol content.
"Drug-driving has also increased, without sufficient measures in place to curtail it, so we are consulting on alternative methods of testing for drug driving and on licence suspension for those suspected of the most serious offences. There is so much more I would like to say, Madam Deputy Speaker, but may I just say that we are seeking opinions on tougher penalties for motoring offences? usbI thank my hon. Friends who raised those issues, in addition to raising the issues of pavement parking and vehicle safety.
"Although the Government are leading the charge, this will be a collective effort in partnership with local authorities, the industry, the emergency services, communities and the devolved Administrations. I assure everyone in this House that action is beginning now to make our roads safer, as we put the commitments in the strategy into place. I will chair a new road safety board that will be set up in the coming months to support and monitor the commitments, and we will announce further details of its membership and other arrangements in due course."
