The parents of a nine-year-old girl who was killed by a dangerous driver in Halifax believe their daughter’s death enabled speed cameras to be installed where it happened.
Alice Williams was knocked down by a speeding motorist who drove through a red light on King Cross Road in July 2023. Dashcam footage shows Qadeer Hussain driving almost 20mph over the limit in the outside lane and ignoring a red light, says ITV.com.
Speed cameras have since been put up to monitor drivers as they approach the crossing.
Her mother Clare O’Neill said: “I do feel that Alice was sacrificed, to get the proof that those cameras were needed. And that doesn’t feel good.
“The cameras were massively needed, it’s a school crossing, a park on one side and the school on the other. Drivers would ramp up their speed to get on to the flyover.”
Alice was crossing the road with Ms O’Neill and brother Joseph, then aged six, to go to the summer fair at St Mary’s RC Primary School where she was a pupil.
Hussain pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and was sentenced to eight years and four months in prison.
Ms O’Neill said she believed her daughter had to die to get the cameras installed.
She said: “They just appeared, we didn’t have to do any campaigning. I know it’s because of Alice. She was the light of our lives. She was my little best friend. She was so affectionate, always telling you she loved you. This feels like a nightmare we can’t wake up from.”
Alice’s family have raised money for the road safety charity RoadPeace which helped them in the aftermath of the incident.
Her father Chris Williams said: “We don’t want anyone else to go through what we have so we will do anything to help the charity to repay them for the support they gave to us.”
Lucy Harrison, Justice and Outreach Manager for RoadPeace said: “This was a dangerous driver and no amount of changes would necessarily have stopped him from driving in that despicable way.
“But we shouldn’t be waiting for tragedies to occur before we take action. We need funding putting into road policing and we need greater enforcement.”
(Pic provided by Alice Williams’ family)
