Putting grief to good use

1:44pm Saturday 18th August 2007

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The parents of a young man killed in a road accident in Selsdon are using his death to campaign for increased road safety.

More than a year on from Andrew Jagroop's horrific death his parents have battled through excruciating grief and ill-health to campaign for safer roads.

Andrew, a 21-year-old promising law student, was killed instantly when a car crashed into the wall he was sitting on, landing on top of him, as he sat waiting for a bus just yards from his home in Farley Road.

The driver of the car had no licence and was uninsured when he ploughed into Andrew last May 24. John Ruskin student Farouk El-Eter, 18, was given a community sentence after he pleaded guilty to driving without due care an attention in February.

At first the Jagroops - who were devastated at the lenient sentence - considered taking civil action against El-Eter but have now decided to focus their energy into campaign work.

Since Andrew's death neither Dean or Sarjit have been able to work but both have become involved in the charity Roadpeace, a campaign organisation which aims to end discrimination of road crash victims and leniency towards road law-breaking Dean said: "We still feel the terrible loss of Andrew's death on a daily basis but if we can tackle the larger issues it feels like we are doing something positive.

"The people at Roadpeace were such a fantastic support to us when Andrew died - and they still are. It has brought us in touch with others who have been through what we went through.

"Also, in the Road Safety Act of October 2006 there is a new charge recommended of causing death by careless driving which has not yet come into force.

"We would also like to see the speed limit reduced from 30 miles an hour to 20 in Farley Road."

Following Andrew's death, Dean had triple by-pass heart surgery and Sarjit suffered a stroke, which they both attributed to the strain of losing their son.

However, their health is slowly improving. Dean added: "It's still very hard for us but it's getting a little bit easier. We find that by doing what we can helping out with Roadpeace we can keep Andrew's spirit alive.

"We would also like to have some sort of memorial put up at the bus stop where he was killed, just to remind people what happened there."

For more information about Roadpeace visit roadpeace.org.