The number of passersby who paused at the police cordon blocking the narrow, winding country road in north Wales where four teenagers died was striking.
They wanted, primarily, to express their sorrow and send messages of comfort to the relatives and friends of Jevon Hirst, 16, Harvey Owen, Wilf Fitchett, both 17, and 18-year-old Hugo Morris. But many felt compelled also to share their family or community’s stories of losing young people in road accidents. Some were in tears as the described an agony that never goes away – and many asked if more needed to be done to reduce such tragedies.
Owen’s mother, Crystal, described him on Friday night as the “most precious soul” and a “unique” and “special” person. “I can’t accept that I won’t be able to hold him again or tell him I love him again,” she said. In a statement issued through North Wales police, she said her son had touched “many people along the way”. “There are absolutely no words to describe the pain we are feeling,” she added.
Although it is too soon to say what caused the crash that cost the lives of the four college students from Shrewsbury, and there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing on the boys’ part, it has inevitably led to calls for politicians to look again at measures to help reduce the number of young people killed on the roads. Suggestions include a graduated driving licensing (GDL) system that would put restrictions on new, younger drivers.
“This is an awful tragedy but we know of many others very similar,” said Lucy Straker, campaigns manager for the road safety charity Brake. “But we don’t have any movement from the government. If you know there’s an issue, why aren’t we doing something to stop it?”
The statistics are stark. In 2022 in Britain, about a fifth of all fatal or serious injury crashes involved young people. Young male car drivers aged 17 to 24 are four times as likely to be killed or seriously injured than over-25s.
“We want to make sure the age group isn’t blamed, because it’s not their fault,” said Straker. “There’s a lot of work on brain chemistry around that age – you are taking risks. Coupled with not having the driving experience, it’s a perfect storm. Too many young people are losing their lives. It’s a tragedy for their families, for communities, for colleges, for everyone.”
Elizabeth Box, research director at the RAC foundation, said young driver safety was as serious a public health concern as drug abuse or knife crime.
“The research tells us there are many ways in which we can reduce death and serious injury within this at-risk group, and they have been shown to work in other countries. The issue now is not analysis but political will. We need decision makers to take action.”
Earlier this month, Box published research setting out some of the challenges faced by young people who have recently passed their tests. New drivers, for example, tend not to have the “eye-glancing behaviour” – spotting potential hazards – that more experienced ones have. And newly qualified drivers are up to four times more likely to die in a crash when carrying passengers of the same age than when driving alone.
Box’s research concluded that a traditional road safety campaign that included “shock” tactics could be counter-productive, prompting defensive or hostile responses, especially in boys. It detailed other measures that could help protect young drivers, such as “black boxes” that alert insurance companies and parents to poor driving.
But, she said, of all the measures that could be put in place, a GDL system, which could include a probationary period when new drivers are not allowed out late or night, or restrictions on the age of their passengers, would have the most impact.
“A phased approach to licensing, with a minimum learning period and passenger and night-time rules for young drivers, could reduce casualties from collisions involving teenage car drivers by as much as 20%.”
The crash in Snowdonia (Eryri) came in the week that Sharron Huddleston’s daughter, Caitlin, would have turned 25. She and her friend, Skye Mitchell, who was driving, died in a crash in Cumbria when both were 18.
Huddleston has become a passionate campaigner for GDL. “Many families every year are having to bury their adolescent children through an outdated driving licence system.”
She was due to meet Richard Holden, the then UK transport minister, earlier this month, but the day before their appointment he left the Department for Transport in a reshuffle.
“Young deaths through road crashes seem to be accepted by society and media,” said Huddleston. “Why? This is deeply upsetting to anyone who has lost a loved one in a horrific road traffic collision. This is a neglected problem.”
The House of Commons transport committee has looked in detail at the merits of GDL. It heard about the success of the system in other countries. In Ontario, Canada, for example, a 12-month minimum learning period, a lowered blood alcohol limit, and night-time restrictions resulted in a 42% reduction in crashes among people aged 20 to 24. In New Zealand, a form of GDL that included a restriction on carrying any passengers for the first six months of driving resulted in a 23% reduction in teenage car crash injuries.
A review in 2013 for the UK government estimated GDL could save 4,471 casualties a year. A survey has found that 68% of the British public supported the introduction of GDL.
Road safety campaigners were surprised, then, that the committee did not come out strongly in favour of GDL, appearing to take against it after hearing from 14 young people it interviewed, 13 of whom opposed night-time and passenger restrictions and expressed concern that it could affect the social and economic opportunities available to novice drivers.
Edmund King, the president of the AA, said it believed the government should restrict passengers for about six months after a driver passes their test. He also highlighted research from the AA Charitable Trust showing that 71% of fatal car crashes involving young drivers took place on rural roads. “There needs to be much more of an awareness about the dangers of rural roads,” he said. “We advocate that even learners in cities take a couple of lessons on rural roads.”
Another terrible irony of the Snowdonia crash is that it comes at a time when road safety is a hot political issue in Wales, after the Welsh government introduced a default 20mph limit in towns and villages. The administration is revising guidance on setting local speed limits in other areas in the light of the 20mph change.
The Department for Transport has no plans to introduce restrictions on younger drivers. It said: “Every death or serious injury on our roads is a tragedy. We continue to work hard to improve road safety for all users, including our Think! campaign, which is primarily aimed at young men, as well as ongoing research on how to best support the skills of newly qualified drivers.”
