Debate contribution: Traffic Collision Sites: Privacy and Dignity

Debate contribution by Mr John Blair on 8 December 2025.

MLA

Mr John Blair

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

8 December 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Traffic Collision Sites: Privacy and Dignity

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5284982

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I thank the Members who tabled the important motion. It reflects current concerns and the worry that fills us all that we face a troubling trend of people and some media outlets capturing and distributing upsetting images and videos from serious or fatal road traffic accidents. What used to be rare and isolated decades ago has, with smartphones and social media, become a common and deeply invasive problem for victims and their families. Countries across Europe, such as France, Spain and Norway, have introduced strong privacy and image rights, ensuring that sharing identifiable images of victims is less permissible. In the United Kingdom, while it is legal to photograph in public, there remains no adequate safeguard against the harm caused by publishing such images. Therefore, we need a legal change. Many who stop to assist at a crash site show immense bravery and compassion. It is, however, utterly unacceptable for anyone in those circumstances to exploit those moments of crisis and turn the suffering of others into a spectacle for likes or retweets or for a fleeting — for want of a better word — moment of fame. Those actions betray not only the victims and their families but our shared sense of community decency. Such behaviour is driven by selfishness, and those responsible should feel shame and must be held to account. Moreover, social media platforms must do more to remove such material rapidly so that it cannot continue to traumatise families. At this juncture, I thank publicly my Alliance colleague Sorcha Eastwood MP for her work at Westminster, calling for greater regulation of social media platforms. Media outlets must also exercise responsibility. Drones and new technologies should not become new tools for disregarding the dignity and privacy of the deceased or their loved ones. I especially thank the campaigners for Caoimhe's law. My Alliance Party colleagues and I firmly support making it a criminal offence to record or share images at the scene of fatal traffic collisions. Hopefully, the relevant Ministers across Departments can, moving forward, work closely together to deliver legislation or the appropriate regulation as soon as possible. We become elected representatives not only to improve the lives of our constituents but to uphold their dignity, demonstrate compassion and take all possible measures to reduce harm. At this juncture, I draw attention to how inaccurate reporting or the broadcasting of speculation can also cause serious harm to the families of road accident casualties. I know personally those who have been impacted by that after losing a loved one. No retraction and no token compensation can mend the hurt or trauma or both caused by speculation on circumstances before a fatal accident or about police inquiries afterwards. Broadcast media must be held responsible in that regard, especially where so-called initial reports do not reflect the facts. Legislative change backed by cross-departmental effort is essential and must be accompanied by a fundamental behaviour change in our society. I am hopeful that we can move forward and away from such acts and ensure that no family endures additional pain at a time of tragedy. I therefore urge Members to support the motion in the strongest possible terms.

528 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:11 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

Disagree with this assessment?

Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.

Challenge this classification