Meera Naran has made it her life’s work to change the way UK politics approaches road safety regulations. This mission was born out of the tragic loss of her son, Dev, who was killed in a motorway crash in 2018. Now, at just eight years old, Dev was traveling to see his big brother Neel in the hospital. One day, that was all about to change. Neel, who faced a lot of difficult health challenges such as having epilepsy, lost his best advocate and warm up artist that day.
Dev’s death spurred a national campaign led by Meera Naran that led to the development of life-saving technologies. Her energetic advocacy has earned her the moniker “Dev’s Law.” Her advocacy will require advanced safety features, like autonomous emergency braking (AEB), to be included in all new vehicles. It’s clear that Naran’s advocacy is driven by the memory of a painful personal experience. On the day of the crash, her father was driving the family car when it stopped in what had once been a hard shoulder, but was repurposed under an expensive smart motorway scheme. It was hit by a lorry that caused Deepa’s husband Dev to die a premature death.
While Neel remained haunted by his brother’s tragic death, he often felt too ashamed and embarrassed to deal with it. For months, he could neither talk nor walk, weighed down by sorrow. Tragically, born just days after Meera’s birth, Neel tragically passed in 2024, but Meera continues to honor their shared spirit of road safety activism and advocacy.
Meera Naran has spent the last few years advocating for legislation that would create safer vehicles of all kinds. Her campaign has gained recognition from government ministers, too. They value her willingness to go above and beyond and make the hard changes that need to be made.
“For me it’s going to be a lifelong campaign to reduce road deaths. I don’t want any other family to go through what we have.” – Meera Naran
Naran wants to make it clear that her mission transcends her individual grief. She finds purpose in waking up each day and using her loss to fuel a cause that might one day prevent others from suffering the same fate.
“Campaigning through both their losses has been unbelievably difficult but it was bigger than my grief, it was bigger than me, it was bigger than their story.” – Meera Naran
As she reflects on how adopting autonomous emergency braking technology might have altered the outcome of that tragic day, the promise of this technology is deep and wide.
“Had the lorry involved had autonomous braking, that collision could potentially have been avoided completely and Dev could have walked out and come home to me that night.” – Meera Naran
So the government’s acceptance of Meera Naran’s campaign is a huge victory.
“For this government to look at this and not only give their word that they’re going to make that change but to actually see that they have included it in the strategy is really important.” – Meera Naran