Road safety officer wins Lifetime Achievement award after saving ‘countless’ lives

A road safety expert who has helped save “countless” lives in a career spanning a number of decades has scooped a prestigious award.

Heidi Duffy MBE, who works as a traffic management officer for Nottinghamshire Police, has helped reduce casualties by leading on a plethora of road safety initiatives.

Arguably her biggest legacy is the national ‘Fatal Four’ road safety campaign, which she created to highlight the dangers of speeding, using a mobile phone at the wheel, not wearing a seatbelt and driving under the influence of drink and/or drugs.

Heidi (pictured) has also worked with partner agencies to ensure remedial work is carried out at fatal collision sites, whilst volunteering her time with various charities and organisations seeking to cut casualty rates.

In recognition of her outstanding contribution to road safety, she received a Lifetime Achievement award at Nottinghamshire Police’s Force Awards ceremony earlier this month.

She was nominated by Inspector Simon Allen, who said:

“Heidi’s formidable and has dedicated her life and soul to road safety.

“I can’t put a figure on how many lives she’s saved, as we can’t quantify it. But just through Fatal Four campaigns running across the country, I would imagine countless lives have been saved.”

Heidi joined Nottinghamshire Police in 1978 as a response officer in the Broxtowe and Hyson Green and progressed onto CID as a detective in 1984, before leaving the force in 1986 to start a family.

She then fulfilled various road safety roles elsewhere before coming back to the force in 2001 as traffic management officer then road casualty reduction manager.

Heidi has also worked with various charities and organisations such as Think, Brake, Shiny Side Up and the National Young Riders Forum.

In 2015 she was an awarded an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list for her services to road safety.

Heidi retired from the force in 2017 and came back as a volunteer for the serious collision investigation unit a week later. She completed more than 1,000 hours of volunteering before being appointed by the force in her current role.

Heidi said receiving a Lifetime Achievement award was a very proud moment. She said:

“It’s fantastic to be honoured like this. It feels amazing. 

“When you see the trauma that families go through when they lose somebody, that really does stay with you.

“I’ve always taken the view that if I can do one thing, or take one factor of a collision, and change something that ultimately saves one family from that trauma, then whatever that change is will have been so worthwhile.

“The Fatal Four campaign went international and has become a brand in a way. It’s great that I’ve managed to contribute something that hopefully has saved people from that trauma and that knock on the door.

“I see Fatal Four on a global stage now and it just makes me smile. I just hope it enthuses, motivates and inspires people to play their own part in ensuring less people are killed on our roads.”

More detail on this year’s Force Awards winners can be found here: News | Nottinghamshire Police