Don’t drink and drive: it ruins lives

“When I heard the knock at the door, I just assumed it was Jake coming home.
“But obviously, when I came downstairs and opened the door, it wasn't Jake.
“It was two police officers standing on the doorstep.”
“I didn't quite expect them to come in and say what they had to come in and say.”

In an emotional end to this week’s national Road Safety Campaign (19-25 November), mum Cheryl Marshall talks about the impact of losing her son, Jake Blease, two years ago in a fatal collision in Cressing.

Jake was just 25 when he died.

The car, in which Jake was a passenger, left the B1018 Witham Road shortly after midnight on 25 September 2021.

The driver, Kane Gornall, also 25, lost control of his Fiesta and was in collision with a tree because of a combination of speed, drink and drugs. He was jailed for causing Jake’s death.

Cheryl added: “That night, the driver robbed us of any future with Jake.”

As Brake’s national Road Safety Week 2023 comes to an end, we continue to urge all our road users to play their part in keeping our roads in Essex safe.

This year’s campaign, “Let’s talk about speed,” which aimed to get people talking about speeding and what happens when we speed, won’t end because the week of activities has ended: tackling speeding will continue to be a key priority for our Roads Policing Team in the months ahead.

We’re working with the Safer Essex Roads Partnership to make roads in Essex safe for everyone, to improve road safety across the county and reduce the number of fatalities on our roads. Last year, there were 48 deaths on our roads, and speeding was the contributory factor for three fatalities and 53 serious injuries.

For more information on Vision Zero and how you can play your part, visit: www.saferessexroads.org/visionzero

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