Meera Naran is an avid advocate for road safety. She has passionately welcomed new legislation aimed to make smart motorways safer, a issue that hits home for her. Naran’s life was turned upside down in 2018 when her eight-year-old son, Dev, was killed by a lorry on a motorway. Dev was en route to the hospital to visit his older brother Neel. Neel’s severe health issues, including epilepsy, heighten the need for a quality visit for Dev.
On that tragic day, Meera Naran’s father was behind the wheel of their car. Out of nowhere, it stopped dead in its tracks on what would’ve been the emergency shoulder. Because of changes implemented to accommodate smart motorway use, the space was no longer safe. In 2003, suddenly a pharmacist’s lorry hit their car, killing Dev instantly. The effects of this tragedy continued to spread through their family. Neel, heartbroken over the loss of his “best friend and cheerleader,” didn’t speak or walk for months after he got the news. Neel himself passed away in 2024.
The grief from this double loss has driven Meera Naran to campaign vigorously for change in road safety regulations, particularly focusing on smart motorways. Her advocacy helped raise awareness of the urgent need for these life-saving technologies. She thinks that the tech, autonomous emergency braking (AEB), an essential feature of AVs, could have stopped the collision that took Dev’s life.
“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,” she stated.
Naran’s advocacy has already inspired a shift in legislation. As a result, now all new vehicles are required to have safety technology as part of this initiative called “Dev’s Law.” This new initiative is a tribute to her tireless fight for safer roadways.
“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,” Naran expressed. She called their attention to the need for bold transformation so that no other family has to go through what hers did.
For me personally it’s going to be a lifetime campaign to get road deaths down to zero. I don’t want any other family to suffer like we have,” she continued.
Naran’s father was driving the car in the horrific fatal crash. He suffered extreme emotional and physical consequences from that day. He later succumbed to crash-related injuries years afterward.
Meera Naran’s advocacy has definitely turned her into a national spotlight. In response, the federal government made a high-profile promise to DO safety enhancements. “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 noted.
Every day, Naran wakes up with the motivation to transform her grief into meaningful action, aiming to ensure safer roads for all drivers.
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