A De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) lecturer who turned the tragedy of losing her son, Dev, into an international fight for safer roads has spoken this week at the United Nations in New York on behalf of vehicle safety organisation Global NCAP.
Meera Naran, a Senior Lecturer in Clinical Pharmacy at DMU, attended the UN’s High-Level Meeting on Improving Global Road Safety in New York on 20th and 21st July.
DMU's Meera Naran at the UN building in New York beside Richard Woods, CEO of Global NCAP.
Organised by the President of the UN General Assembly and the World Health Organization, the event will bring together governments, UN agencies, civil society, academia, the private sector and road safety experts to speed up global action towards halving road deaths and injuries by 2030.
For Meera, the mission is deeply personal. Dev, her eight-year-old son Dev died in a smart motorway collision in May 2018. Since then, she has become one of the UK’s most prominent road safety campaigners, working with government, charities, emergency services, and the automotive sector to press for evidence-based changes that save lives.
The UK Government has recently restated its commitment to introducing Dev’s Law - named for Meera’s son – which will see the UK adopt new vehicle safety regulations requiring life-saving technologies, including Autonomous Emergency Braking, to be fitted in new vehicles.
Her campaigning has also helped influence national policy changes, including measures around smart motorway safety, driver education and vehicle safety. She was awarded an MBE in 2021 for services to road safety.
Global NCAP - a UK registered charity working internationally to democratise vehicle safety, were so inspired by Meera’s story they invited her to become their Advocacy Ambassador. Meera will speak on their behalf at the UN event which, crucially, is focused on following through on national commitments to reduce deaths and serious injuries, including through safer vehicles, safer roads, better data, stronger coordination between sectors and sustainable financing for road safety.
Meera said: “When Dev died, I made a promise that I would do everything I could to stop other families suffering the same loss. Road deaths are not inevitable. They are preventable, but prevention depends on governments, industry, researchers and communities working together and acting on the evidence.
“To be part of this United Nations meeting as Global NCAP’s Advocacy Ambassador is a huge honour, but more importantly it is an opportunity to keep the focus where it needs to be: on practical, proven measures that save lives."
Meera said her goal remains simple: to make sure road safety commitments are translated into action.
She added: “Every statistic represents a person, a family and a future that has been changed forever. We know many of the solutions. The challenge now is to implement them with urgency, consistency and courage.”
DMU is the UN Academic impactHub Chair, for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 which includes safe, accessible and sustainable transport.
Dr Mark Charlton, Head of DMU’s SDG Impact Hub, said: “Meera’s work is a powerful example of the kind of real-world impact that sits at the heart of DMU’s role as the UN Hub for SDG11.
“SDG 11 is about making communities safer, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable. Road safety is central to that mission, because safe transport systems are essential to the way people live, work, learn and move through cities and communities.
“Meera has taken an unimaginable personal tragedy and turned it into evidence-led campaigning that is influencing policy, technology and public understanding. Her presence at the United Nations reflects both the global importance of road safety and the contribution DMU staff are making to international conversations about safer, more sustainable communities.”
Posted on Tuesday 21 July 2026