RoSPA Press Office : Press Release
July 17, 2001
MOBILE PHONE LAW PLEA AS MEMORIAL OPENS TO REBEKKA
A garden will be officially opened today (Tues, July 17) in memory of an 11-year-old girl who was killed by a motorist using a mobile phone.
The memorial to Rebekka Hudd is being opened on her birthday as her mother, Lynda, and The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents renew their plea for a specific offence to ban the use of mobile phones while driving.
Mrs Hudd said Rebekka was waiting for her brother Nick, then aged 15, when the driver of a four-wheel drive vehicle knocked her down. He admitted careless driving and was fined £250 with six penalty points and ordered to pay £35 costs.
The accident happened in 1996. Rebekka would have been 16 today.
The garden has been developed on former Home Office land where she used to play opposite her home in St Aldams Drive, Pucklechurch, near Bristol.
Mrs Hudd and her ex-husband Bob praised the Home Office for providing the land and building the garden for them.
She said: “It is a wonderful tribute to Rebekka. We hope it will provide a place for peace and reflection, but also remind people about what happened to her and the dangers of mobile phones. There should be a law to ban the use of mobile phones while driving so that other families do not have to suffer in the way that we have done.”
Kevin Clinton, RoSPA Head of Road Safety, said the Society knew of at least 16 deaths on Britain’s roads where mobile phones had been implicated. Research showed that using a mobile phone – whether hand-held or hands-free – made drivers more likely to have an accident.
RoSPA has written to David Jamieson, the new Road Safety Minister, calling for a new law.
Kevin Clinton said: “There is currently no specific offence relating to mobile phones and driving - and that means many motorists take a risk and use them. New legislation would make it crystal clear that mobiles should be switched off when drivers are at the wheel. Messaging systems can be used and calls made when the vehicle is parked safely.”
Rebekka’s Garden will be opened at noon in St Aldams Drive, Pucklechurch, Gloucestershire.
