Mum takes driver safety petition to Downing Street

Parents of road crash victims have delivered a 100,000-signature petition to Downing Street, calling for stricter laws for newly qualified drivers.

They were led by Crystal Owen from Shrewsbury, who lost her 17-year-old son Harvey when he was a passenger in a car that crashed in north Wales in November 2023. Three other teenagers were also killed.

The proposed measures include a law which would stop newly qualified drivers from carrying young passengers unless an adult is with them.

Ms Owen said: "My campaign is not about punishing young people but about protecting them."

Her proposals have the support of the Automobile Association, MP for Shrewsbury Julia Buckley, and the West Mercia police and crime commissioner John Campion.

She was joined at Downing Street by the mothers of five other young car crash victims, Bridget Lucas, Alison Greenhouse, Joanne Alkir, Nicola Bell, and Naomi Crane.

The move follows an announcement in January in which Future of Roads Minister Lilian Greenwood said the UK government was not considering graduated licences.

The minister said she acknowledged, however, the safety of vehicles driven by new drivers was an area of "huge public concern", adding the government would be "exploring options to tackle the root causes" of dangers "without unfairly penalising young drivers".

Harvey Owen died along with three friends, Hugo Morris, 18, Wilf Fitchett, 17, and Jevon Hirst, 16 while they were away on a camping trip.

Their car flipped on to its roof in a flooded ditch, leaving the four A-level students trapped, and an inquest into their deaths concluded the crash "was avoidable".

The coroner wrote to the government, raising her own concerns over newly qualified drivers being able to carry passengers.

Ms Owen has proposed a number of measures to prevent similar deaths:

● A minimum six-month learning period for learner drivers before they are eligible for a practical test.

● For the first six months after passing their test, or until they turn 20, drivers should not carry passengers aged 25 or under unless accompanied by an older adult.

● Violating these rules should result in six penalty points, leading to immediate licence suspension and the requirement to retake the practical test.

● All cars must be fitted with a tool that could smash open a window if a car is trapped, to allow occupants to escape to safety.

The hammer in the final measure has become known as "Harvey's Hammer" in memory of Harvey Owen.

In a statement, Ms Owen said she wanted to help young people by "addressing the risks associated with inexperience and impulsivity, allowing them to enjoy their freedom without facing unnecessary danger".

Ms Alkir, whose daughter Olivia died in a car crash in 2019, said she thought her daughter would be alive today if the graduated licence had been in place.

"Parents would have the power to say 'no I'm sorry you can't take your car full of passengers to the lake or the party because you've only just qualified - you need some time to get experience'," she said.

She added that flyers handed out to newly qualified drivers about road safety were not good enough.

"A 17-year-old isn't going to read a leaflet to say drive carefully," she said.

Ms Alkir has also shared her and Olivia's story in schools in Wales, which includes audio from the scene of Olivia's crash.

"It's really impactful. The children come out educated but also a little bit shocked - but not in a bad way," she said.

"It makes them think. They have conversations with their parents afterwards."

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