Young drivers' law 'could have saved my daughter'

A mother whose 16-year-old daughter died in a car crash says tighter rules for young drivers could have saved her.

Matilda "Tilly" Seccombe was one of three teenagers killed in a collision in Warwickshire last April.

Juliet Seccombe said a law barring under 25s from driving their peers would save "lives that have barely begun".

"It’s not enough just to pass your test, you need that time to get that experience under your belt," she said.

Mrs Seccombe is supporting a campaign started by Crystal Owen, whose son died when the car he was in overturned in Wales last year.

Shrewsbury College student Harvey was found with Jevon Hirst, 16, Wilf Fitchett, 17, and Hugo Morris, 18, in a partially submerged car in Gwynedd on November 21.

Ms Owen's petition, which calls for a graduated licence scheme for young motorists has been signed by more than 14,400.

Graduated driver licences, which have been introduced in Canada and New Zealand, include restrictions on passengers, a minimum learning period and a ban from driving at night.

The campaign is supported by road safety charity Brake, which said one in five newly qualified drivers crashed within their first year on the road.

Tilly was in her first year of A-levels at Chipping Campden School when the Ford Fiesta she was travelling in crashed in Shipston-on-Stour on 21 April.

"She was blossoming into a beautiful young lady... she had great plans for the future," her mother said. “She had so many friends. She was just so well-loved."

Students Harry Purcell, 17 and Frank Wormald, 16, also died in the crash. A fourth teenager, Edward Spencer, was injured and a woman and two children travelling in a second car were taken to hospital.

"I can’t tell you how traumatic it is and I wouldn’t want anybody else to go through what we’re going through," Mrs Seccombe said.

She said she contacted Ms Owen after hearing about her campaign.

"When I heard about the four young boys that died in Wales, it just brought everything flooding back," she said.

"[A law] would just help support and reinforce parents and I just think that it would also help the young motorists gain that experience without the distractions of others in the car."

Mrs Seccombe said she was convinced tighter restrictions would have stopped Tilly from getting into the car.

"She wasn’t a law-breaker. That’s the big difference," she said. “If this law was in place, I’m sure it would have saved Tilly’s life."

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