20mph speed limit: Father whose 12-year-old daughter died in crash says 20mph limit in 'war on killing people, not motorists'

Alice Greenwood died in October 2008, after her mum’s car was hit as they drove back to West Yorkshire from a family holiday at Center Parcs.

The other vehicle’s 18 year-old driver, who himself died in the collision alongside his 16 year-old passenger, had been part of a convoy of cars racing each other along the A52 in Derbyshire. Four teenagers were jailed for causing death by careless driving the following year.

Now, Alice’s father Ian, has insisted it is “really not difficult” for motorists to drive safely, pleading “don’t kill people like my daughter”.

Mr Greenwood, who has recently moved from Roundhay in North Leeds to Halifax, said: “Most people who live in West Yorkshire drive really carefully. Most drive really sensibly and comply with the rules. It’s really easy not to kill anybody. Don’t drink. Don’t get drugged. Don’t speed. Look where you’re going. Put your seatbelt on. It’s really not that difficult.

“Alice was almost 13, but she never made it to 13. The second car missed the bend but it hit the car my ex-wife was driving. It snapped Alice’s neck and caused a major catastrophic head injury that killed her. Three young lives were taken that night. It happens to tens upon tens of thousands of people.”

Alice’s younger sister Clara, and her mum Juliette, both sustained serious injuries in the crash, but thankfully survived.

Mr Greenwood, 58, was speaking after being applauded by local councillors in Leeds, who he emotionally addressed about the issue of road safety at a scrutiny meeting on Wednesday (Sep 27). The city council made a ‘Vision Zero’ pledge to eradicate all road deaths in Leeds by 2040 last year.

But 46 people across the city are still dying or sustaining serious injuries as a result of a collision every month, the meeting was told.

Mr Greenwood hit out at Westminster politicians, who he believes are ignoring road safety, but praised the council for “taking it seriously now”, after years of struggling to get his message across.

And he urged local authorities everywhere to follow Wales’ lead in cutting speed limits to 20mph, which has been criticised in some quarters.

“The war on motorists doesn’t exist,” Mr Greenwood, who is originally from Hebden Bridge, insisted. “It’s a war on stopping people from being killed. If you get on a plane or a train, or a ferry, you don’t expect to be killed. Five people a day nationally are killed on our roads.

If you’ve got an SUV (sport utility vehicle) and a child, the SUV always wins. Do you want your child to be squashed by an SUV on a street corner on their way to school? Don’t kill people like my daughter.”