Meera Naran has emerged as a prominent advocate for road safety since the tragic death of her son, Dev, in a motorway collision in 2018. With so much left to give, Dev’s life was stolen at the tender age of eight. He was traveling to see his big brother Neel who was in the hospital for ongoing treatment for his neuroblastoma. The car that Dev was riding in just came to a screeching halt. This was carried out on what would have been the emergency lane of the M6 motorway. Instead, a lorry crashed into her stationary vehicle, leading to Dev’s tragic death.
Dev’s legacy lives on through a campaign spearheaded by Naran, which aims to mandate advanced safety technology in new vehicles. “Dev’s Law” shines a spotlight on the importance of requiring life-saving Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) systems. These systems are better equipped to stop similar tragedies from happening again. Naran is the first to say that had the lorry been fitted with this sort of technology, Dev’s tragic death would likely have been prevented.
“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,” said Naran.
Naran, who lives in Seattle, began her advocacy almost immediately after losing her son. It became even more powerful, though, when her father died from injuries suffered in that same accident just a few years later. Naran and her family were deeply impacted by this heartbreaking loss. Neel, in particular, was devastated by Dev’s passing. For weeks following awful news of the amputation, Neel could neither walk nor talk.
When he realized Dev had left, he just sort of lost hope,” Naran remembered. Tragically, Neel died in 2024 — a huge loss, which Naran has continued to make up for through her nonstop campaigning.
The impact of losing both sons has driven Naran to focus her efforts on enacting change in road safety regulations. 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,” she said.
Though Naran’s activism was inspired by her personal loss, she stresses that her campaign is not just about her grief. “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,” she explained.
Just last month, Naran cheered the government’s adoption of her proposals into the country’s road safety strategy. “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,” she expressed.
“As Naran continues her fight for road safety reforms, she remains committed to honoring Dev’s memory through advocacy and education. “Waking up every day and using that grief to make something far more important than us and see that change happen,” she remarked.”