'A lifetime of grief': Parents' warning to drink drivers after son killed in hit-and-run

ITV West Country's Jacquie Bird has been speaking to Mark and Helen Saltern

A family from Cornwall have warned of the dangers of drink and drug driving five years after their son was killed in a hit-and-run.

Ryan Saltern, 31, from St Teath, died after being struck by a vehicle.

His parents, Mark and Helen, have campaigned for tougher sentences for those convicted of causing death by dangerous driving.

But now the pair are also hoping to raise awareness of the consequences of drink or drug driving, as part of National Road Victim Month.

Mark said: "It's a lifetime of grief. the first thing you think of in the morning and the last thing at night. And that's every day."

Helen added: "And there's always an empty chair isn't there, at family occasions, But we carry him in our hearts and he will never ever be forgotten."

Last year, more than 700 people were killed or injured on roads in Devon and Cornwall.

Now the Saltern's are calling for a change in the law to make it a more serious offence to drive away from the scene of a crash.

The man who struck Ryan pleaded guilty to failing to stop and failing to report the accident.

He received a four-month jail sentence, which was suspended for a year, disqualified from driving for 12 months and given an evening curfew for four months.

The Saltern family are also creating a room at their home near Bodmin for families who've lost a loved one to road crime in their son's memory, called Ry's Haven.

Mark said: "It's a safe place and a therapist said that just a few days at a place life Ry's Haven is worth six months of therapy., which is a good thing. Ry's Haven is what Ry was all about."

Helen said: "It gives that positive to Ryan's memory, which is what we want. We've always said it cannot end on that court sentence."

Devon and Cornwall Police is part of Vision Zero, a campaign that aims to reduce the number of serious injury and fatal crashes on the region's roads to zero by 2030.

Acting Chief Constable Jim Colwell said: "Lawful, law-abiding, innocent people get in a car, set off on a journey and then on the odd occasion, they make a really poor decision.

"Whether that's to have a drink before they get in the car, whether that's not to bother put a seatbelt on, or whether that's to slip the mobile phone out of the pocket and check a message, whether that's to drive another 10mph faster because they're late getting somewhere or whether it's because they think they're a brilliant driver and they are going to do that risky overtake.

"That's what we are talking about here, it's about those decisions made in a second, a micro second often, that can create consequences that last a lifetime."