Twenty four people have lost their lives on Lincolnshire’s road this year – leaving police officers to make “the long walk” to tell family they have lost loved ones.
Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership spokesman John Siddle said: “How can you describe it? You are just on your way to destroy a family.
“None of the police officers want to do it, they would rather not, but somebody has to step up and do it. It does take a calibre of officer to do that.
“When they deliver that message they can’t buckle, they are dealing with raw emotions, sometimes anger and sometimes pain – and sometimes a mixture of both.”
Road deaths are matching those for the first seven months of 2012, but there is a crumb of comfort as no children have lost their lives.
However deaths in the over 60s age group have risen from seven to nine.
Figures for the number seriously injured won’t be available until the end of the year – in 2012 there were 387 seriously injured.
Mr Siddle says only one thing separates the seriously injured and the dead and that’s luck.
He says older people are less likely to survive a serious injury crash so safety courses targeting older drivers were launched to run alongside the award-winning Too Fast Too Soon programme designed to persuade younger drivers to be more responsible on the roads.