The Government today pledged to introduce Dev’s Law – it represents the culmination of eight heart-rending years of hard work for Meera Naran, a lecturer at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU).
When it comes into force, Dev’s Law will mean that all new cars, vans and lorries on UK roads must be fitted with AEBs - Autonomous Emergency Braking systems.
It is named for Meera’s son, Dev Naran, who was eight-years-old when he was killed in a collision on a stretch of smart motorway near Birmingham in May 2018.
Meera, a senior lecturer in clinical pharmacy at DMU, has campaigned ever since for better road safety, and is in no doubt that AEB technology would have saved Dev’s life if it had been available and fitted to the lorry that crashed into the back of the stationary car in which he was sitting.
Different carmakers call their AEB systems by difference names, but essentially all AEBs use cameras, lasers or radar sensors to monitor the environment for potential dangers, and use complex algorithms to decide if an emergency means the vehicle's brakes should be applied automatically to avoid a crash, or at least lessen the impact.
AEBS are already compulsory in the European Union, Japan, South Korea, and Australia, and experts estimate that up to 100,000 rear end crashes could be avoided every year if all cars on UK roads were fitted with AEBs and that, as a result, more than 1,000 lives a year could be saved.
Meera said: “I’ve been working on this for such a long time, and I know that the name is not what is most important, and all that really matters is that the changes actually improve road safety, but hearing the Minister give me her word that the Government will honour Dev by introducing the changes as Dev’s Law was very emotional for me - I don’t tear-up very often, but I did in a room with the minister and several civil servants.
"It’s a major milestone for road safety – that’s what really matters.”
When implemented, Dev’s Law is likely to require new cars to have not only AEB, but also multiple other safety technologies such as lane-keeping assistance.
The Government promise to implement Dev’s Law came from Local Transport Minister Lilian Greenwood, who said today in a post on X (formerly Twitter): “I could not be prouder to be delivering on Dev’s law today. @naranmeera has campaigned tirelessly for action on road safety to ensure no other family suffers the devastation she experienced.”
The minister was launching the Government's new Road Safety Strategy - a package of measures aimed at cutting deaths and serious injuries on Britain's roads by 65% over the next decade. These measures included cognitive tests for older drivers, more frequent eye tests, better data sharing between health agencies and the police, and a lowering the drink drive limit.
Mrs Greenwood said that while the new Road Safety Strategy was evidence-based, it was “driven by the voices of those who have experienced the devastating consequences of road collisions first-hand”.
Meera said: “The Government's new Road Safety Strategy includes several of my proposals from over the years, including improving data linking between health and transport systems, the introduction of a Road Safety Investigation Branch, options for cognitive testing to ensure fitness to drive. Overall, it’s a strong and much needed move in the right direction.”
In spite of this significant victory with Dev's Law in particular, Meera, who serves as an independent advisor on a number of national road safety groups, and who has received an MBE for her work, says she has no plans to stop campaigning for safer roads in the UK and elsewhere.
Posted on Wednesday 7 January 2026