A petition calling for the introduction of graduated driver licencing (GDL) is closing in on 100,000 signatures.
The petition was started by Crystal Owen, whose 17-year-old son Harvey Owen and his three friends, all 18 and under, tragically lost their lives in a car crash in November 2023.
The petition calls for learner drivers to undergo a minimum six-month learning period before being eligible for a practical test, ‘ensuring they gain valuable experience on a variety of roads and in different weather conditions’.
For the first six months after passing their test (or until they turn 20, whichever comes first), the petition says newly-qualified drivers should not carry passengers aged 25 years or under unless accompanied by an older adult.
Violating this rule should result in six penalty points, leading to immediate license suspension and the requirement to retake the practical test under the New Drivers Act 1995, it adds.
The petition has been gaining traction since the Government announced that GDL remains not under consideration – and currently has more than 91,000 signatures.
Writing on Change.org, Crystal Owen said: “With one in every five newly qualified drivers crashing within their first year and young drivers being at higher risk of being involved in a fatal crash when carrying peer age passengers, there is an urgent need to act now to save lives.
“[In November 2023] my beautiful 17-year-old son Harvey Owen and his three friends, all 18 and under, tragically lost their lives in a car crash.
“I was unaware, he was being driven to Wales by a newly qualified driver he had met at college, not the older, experienced driver I thought he was with. After sending me a photo from the house he was staying at, they set off for a camping trip. Less than two hours later, the car left the road on a bend and ended up in a water-filled ditch, causing them all to drown. Losing a child to an avoidable crash is an indescribable pain.
“My story is not unique, almost 5,000 people are seriously injured or killed in a road traffic collision involving a young driver aged 25 and under, each year in the UK.
“The boys’ deaths could have been prevented if GDL had been in place. GDL has proven effective worldwide for over 30 years, reducing deaths and serious injuries involving young, inexperienced drivers by up to 40%. I am now part of a campaign group of over 150 bereaved families called ‘Forget Me Not Families Uniting.’
“Often the main argument against this change to driver licensing is that it restricts freedom. But my son’s freedom has been taken away forever. No one believes it will happen to them, but tragically, 24% of those killed in crashes involving young drivers are the drivers themselves, 26% are passengers, and 50% are innocent people not even in the car. It can happen to anyone.
“These short-term safety measures could prevent approximately 537 deaths and serious injuries each year in the UK where 17-19 year old drivers are involved.”
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