'My life is over': Teenagers in Manchester hear what it's like to lose someone to dangerous driving

Jennifer Buck spoke to speakers at the Safe Drive Stay Alive event to find out why it's so important young people learn the effects of dangerous driving.

The partner of a pregnant woman killed by a speeding driver on the motorway has shared his story and grief with teenagers in the hope they will learn from his loss.

Frankie Jules-Hough was waiting with her sons and nephew on the side of the M66, when she was hit and killed by a car travelling at 120mph as driver Adil Iqbal filmed himself at the wheel.

She was 17 weeks pregnant at the time.

Her partner Calvin Buckley has now spoken of his loss aiming to push those on the road to "value your own life and other people's".

He said: "To sum it up, my world has been destroyed. My future has been destroyed...

"All my dreams and energy were going into having a family, and I've had that taken away from me... by one individual who chose to put having fun and getting a thrill over the safety of other people."

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Frankie Jules-Hough died after the crash in May, along with her unborn daughter Credit: Family photo
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By taking to young people, Calvin hopes he can show them the effects irresponsible driving can have.

He said: "I'm hoping that they realise that their actions can have such a devastating effect on other people.

"My aim and hope for this is that they do feel a bit more responsible in terms of being a responsible passenger or if they are the driver of the vehicle, value life, value your own life and other people's lives."

Frankie had pulled over on the hard shoulder with a tyre puncture and was making a call to say she would be late when she was hit by Iqbal. Credit: Family picture

Calvin also spoke about the impact Frankie's death had on the rest of her family, including her two children.

He said: "The boys are getting there, but there's a mental impact and a long term impact so we're just taking it day by day."

Mr Buckley was speaking at the event, which brings together the emergency services and families to teach young people about the importance of road safety.

The annual Safe Drive Stay Alive at Middleton Arena, in Rochdale, gives young people from across Manchester first hand accounts of traffic accidents and get advice from emergency services.

Another who shared her loss and grief with the room of stunned teens was Ann-Marie Hornsby whose son Colin died in 2018 when his friend lost control of the vehicle.

She said: "To lose my son, Colin, was the worst thing ever in the world... I thought I had nothing, and this gives me something."

Shortly after Colin died, Ann-Marie got involved with the Stay Drive Stay Alive project.

Colin with his mum Ann-Marie Credit: Ann-Marie Hornsby

She said: "One my friends said "there's something I think you should be involved in."

For five years, Ann-Marie has appeared on stage to tell young people about her son, and the effects his death has had on his family.

She said: "I tell them who Colin was and he was like all of them in the audience today, he liked his designer clothes, he liked his music, loud music, he loved his trainers, so I talk about all those things.

"I talk about the naughty things like getting a fake ID. I want to make Colin a real person for them."

A picture of Colin, which was projected on stage while his mum gave her talk Credit: Ann-Marie Hornsby

Anne-Marie is joined on stage by fire, police, and ambulance workers who have first hand accounts of what it's like to deal with crashes and collisions due to unsafe driving.

PC Nicola Heap said: "As much as we’ve got a uniform on we’re also human and it does have an impact on us and more importantly the families...

"Having to go to these scenes, see the devastation that we see and then to visit the families and do that dreadful knock on the door. It’s just heartbreaking."

Simon Dowling, from Greater Manchester and Rescue Service, also echoed the importance of telling real stories that show the impact unsafe driving can have.

He said: "I think people need to hear it, particularly young people who are just starting or are due to start driving... We are not trying to scare people. We are trying to show the impact it has you having an accident

"It’s all about driving safely. For the fire service, the last thing we want to do is come to a car crash and cut you out of a car."

The event will run until 17 November, and is free to all young people in Greater Manchester.

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