An arrest has been made after 29-year-old Rajesh Chand was hit by a car on Soho Road in Handsworth, Birmingham.
Chand was found before 4 am with serious head injuries typical of car crash victims. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Social media tributes poured in when news broke of Chand’s death, which occurred as he was crossing the road in the early hours of the morning.
After an appeal from West Midlands police, who released the details of the car that hit Chand, a 30-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.
In 2018, a BBC investigation revealed that the number of hit and runs in the UK had risen by an incredible 45% in 4 years between 2013 (which saw 19,239 recorded examples) and 2017 (28,010). These statistics were found according to information granted by 27 of 44 police forces in England and Wales. These figures came to light not long after a law change, which means that people who cause death by dangerous driving can be subject to life sentences.
This change came four months after Aidan McAteer was sentenced for only nine months in prison after running over a four-year-old girl. Similar examples are all too familiar with Ali Bahramzadeh, in 2016, being sentenced for 12 months for causing death by careless driving.
Road Safety charity Brake has been vocal on these issues, calling the law changes a ‘major victory’ for victims’ families. These recent developments encourage optimism that justice will be performed for the sake of Rajesh Chand’s family and friends.
Birmingham City Council has a three-pronged approach to road safety, aiming to cultivate road safety through ‘Safer roads’, ‘safer people’, and ‘safer vehicles’. The initiative’s aims include cutting down on speeding by trialling more speed cameras and lowering speed limits. It also involves making sure people who need it most are receiving road safety information and attempting to reduce dangerous driving practices. Examples of these include driving under the influence of drink/drugs or while using a mobile phone.
There is a good reason to be optimistic with deterrents like these working to stop tragedies such as which befell on Rajesh Chand. However, road deaths are still inevitable and more needs to be done to make the roads safer, and to implement a new attitude towards driving. Unfortunately, some people are impervious to the dangers of driving until they are involved in something like the accident which occurred on Soho Road.
By Will Rymer
