'Restrictions might have saved my daughter'
| Published date | 12 April 2024 |
| Publication title | Huddersfield Daily Examiner |
The parents, whose loved ones were all killed by cars driven by young drivers, have formed a campaign group, Forget-me-not Families Uniting, calling on the Government to save young lives.
Alice, daughter of Ian, of Leeds, and Juliette, formerly of Emley, near Huddersfield, tragically died in 2008 when she was being driven back to Yorkshire after a trip to Alton Towers. Her mum and sister, Clara, were badly injured, and two young men in a speeding Vauxhall Corsa were killed.
The crash was caused by a convoy of five speeding cars. Several young people received custodial sentences for their part in the fatal crash and for telling lies about what happened.
Her family remember Alice as a 'beautiful, bright and amazing' girl who had the ability to get along with everyone she met.
Dr Greenwood, who has since devoted his life to road safety, says that for decades, governments have been repeatedly presented with the evidence on how to reduce the huge risks facing young, newly qualified drivers aged 17-24 and their passengers, but they have all failed to act.
In Britain, young drivers between the ages of 17 and 24 are involved in 24% of all collisions resulting in death or serious injury, even though this group accounts for just 7% of the total driving population.
In 2022, 4,935 people were killed or seriously injured in crashes involving at least one young driver - this includes other road users of all ages, such as people travelling in separate cars or pedestrians.
Data has shown that drivers under the age of 24 are more likely to have crashes when they are carrying similar-aged passengers in their car, when driving at night and when driving conditions are difficult.
In response to this evidence, several countries, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand and many US states, have successfully introduced Graduated Driving Licensing (GDL), which restricts the number of similaraged passengers a young driver can carry in the car, as well as night-time driving.
In these countries, there has been a reduction in deaths and serious injuries in crashes involving young drivers of between 20% and 40%, following the introduction of GDL.
Forget-me-not Families Uniting is calling for the introduction of GDL to reduce road death and serious injury, and an expert panel to advise the Government on how GDL in the...
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