A city MP has joined calls for a dedicated body to be established to cut the number of deaths and serious injuries on the roads.

Newport East Labour MP Jessica Morden has said that more needs to be done to examine the details of crashes, and the circumstances that led to them – and that this work should be carried out by an independent Road Collision Investigation Branch.

The calls are being supported by 31-year-old Katie Jenkins, from Abersychan in Torfaen, whose mother was killed in a road crash in September 2016.

Fifty-year-old Ray Jones was riding pillion on a motorcycle when it was hit by a car that had pulled out from a petrol station – without looking.

Katie said she believed moves to learn lessons from tragedies like this would be a positive thing for everyone.

“More people need to know about the seriousness of deaths on the road, because what we’ve been through, as a family, is horrendous, and we don’t want that to happen to any other family,” she said.

“If we can get that out there then hopefully we can prevent it from happening again.

“People don’t realise how powerful this vehicle is that they’re driving, and how many lives are devastated by a road death. It’s happening so frequently, and it seems to get swept to the side. It needs a higher profile, because driving is an everyday thing. There are thousands of people getting in cars every day.”

The night of the crash – and the subsequent investigation – was filmed for a new BBC Wales television documentary, which secured exclusive access - inside the cordon - to follow the work of Gwent Police’s Forensic Collision Investigation Unit.

The four-part series is the culmination of two years spent working alongside the team of dedicated officers as they deal with serious and fatal incidents on the roads.

Speaking to the BBC, Ms Morden said: “At the moment each individual police force has their road collision branches, and they do brilliant work - they want to find out the cause of the collision and make sure it doesn't want to happen to anyone else.

“But on a UK level what you haven't got is one independent body which would support those investigators, not overtake them, and draw out some of the trends so we can stop this happening again.”

She added that while there are agencies that carry out this kind of investigation following rail, maritime and aviation incidents, there is nothing for roads.

“It's about looking at the most effective counter measures to stop people dying on our roads, so it just makes sense that you pull together all the information you've got and draw out lessons."

Transport secretary Jesse Norman said that the government will continue to look closely at the possibility of setting up such a national body.

The Crash Detectives starts at 8.30pm on Monday, April 16, on BBC One Wales, and on BBC iPlayer.