‘I just want to know why my son died’
‘I just need an explanation why it happened’
AROMILEY mum says she is still looking for answers on her son’s death months after his hitand-run collision - and hasn’t spoken to police officers in months.
Karen Davis’ son Lee was killed following a crash on the M57 motorway in December last year - but the driver of the other car failed to stop at the scene.
Now, Karen is supporting a petition to change the law which wants to widen the definition of ‘death by dangerous driving’ to include failure to stop at the scene of an incident.
“We’ve not heard anything from the police since January. We’re still waiting to see if there will be any charges,” Karen told the Express.
“People say to me, ‘why don’t you ring the police?’ - but I’m scared to. If they say that the other driver is unaccountable, I don’t know what I’d do.
“It’s not an eye for an eye by any means, I just need an explanation as to why it happened.
“My son was an HGV driver, he was a very good driver and had done lots of advanced driving qualifications.
“People need to know that there are repercussions for causing accidents and that it does affect other people.”
Merseyside Police say that the family has been kept fully up to date with their investigations through family-liaison officers.
Lee, who was 37, leaves behind two daughters and a hole in his family’s life which will be impossible to replace, Karen, 58, says.
She added: “I don’t think I’ll ever move on.
“Life will go on, of course it will, but if that chap was to blame for that accident, I want it acknowledged that he caused it.
“It’s horrible. Trying to explain to [Lee’s daughter] Ayva... she’s having a tough time.
“She saw her uncle for the first time on Sunday and he looks very much like Lee and her eyes were shock-horror and then she came back down to Earth again. It was just horrible.”
Karen’s story comes as the petition calling for the government to widen the death by dangerous driving definition passed 100,000 signatures meaning parliament will consider it for debate.
The petition is known as ‘Ryan’s Law’, named after Ryan Saltern - a 31-yearold Cornwall man who was killed when a car dragged him along a country lane for 18 metres in July 2019.
The driver of the car,
Wayne Shilling, failed to stop at the scene.
Mr Shilling was jailed for four months, suspended for a year, banned from driving for 12 months and given an evening curfew by magistrates in August 2020.
Ryan’s father, Mark, has told the Express that he feels Karen’s treatment has been ‘appalling’.
“I’ve spoken to Karen Davis, that’s a shocking story.
“The way Karen has been treated is appalling,” the 58-year-old said.
“I feel so sorry for her family.
“It is time for change - it has got to.
“We want to widen the definition of dangerous driving.
“At the moment, it encourages people to leave the scene and we want people to stop and do the right thing.
“They are leaving people to die.
“People are getting away with murder. We want to encourage people to stop and call 999 and get the emergency services there to give them the chance of life.”
Like Karen, Mark has struggled to adjust to life without his son.
The ex-firefighter added: “We were numb for months from the knock on the door,
“It was just shock for months. It takes you months for it to sink in.
“You wake up every morning and for that splitsecond you think it’s a nightmare but it’s true.
“Ryan was the kindest, nicest person you could ever meet - he did so much for communities.
“As a family it has totally destroyed us.
“We are fighting this trying to get a positive out of this negative, and that is what Ryan would have done.
“It’s going to kill my parents, it’s still really bad. It’s devastating for everyone.”