The young students were on the bus that crashed into the back of Ms Welch's car, forcing it on to the other side of the road and into the path of another vehicle.

Understandably, many of the students have been left traumatised by the event and despite their school calling in counsellors, they have had problems

sleeping and eating.

Some are still too scared to travel on the bus through this horror stretch of road at Harpers Hill that has now claimed 10 lives in the past 12 years.

This is the longer term impact that such accidents have on not only the loved ones of the victim but also innocent bystanders, such as a bus load of school children, and communities as a whole.

Parents of the students, as would the driver of the other vehicle involved, must also be contemplating what else may have happened on Monday.

The trauma that must be experienced by police and ambulance officers attending the scene also cannot be overlooked.

Too often roads deaths are reported without the longer term impact of such accidents being explored.

We read, hear and talk about the high cost of roads and roadworks.

What these young students have experienced is the human cost – the human cost of inaction when its comes to fixing known blackspots such as the one at Harpers Hill.

This horror stretch of road must be fixed before more lives are lost and others are also left

psychologically scarred.