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Kate was 17 when she died in July
1988, along with her friend Claire. They were passengers driven
by a learner in his own car. Claire had recently passed her test
and was then legally permitted to supervise another learner. Despite her
clear instructions, the driver tried to overtake in heavy rain,
lost control and skidded into a steel gatepost. The judge stated that he
had been 'showing off in front of friends'. This fatal crash led to the founding of 'Learn and Live' by Kate's parents and, in 1990, to legislation restricting supervisors to those over 21 and with at least 3 years' experience as a full licence holder. |
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On a summer evening in 1989, Claire, Vicky and
Mark set off for a pleasant drive with a friend. They were passengers in
one car driven by a young lad who had passed his test 5 days previously.
Not far from their homes near Guildford the driver lost control of his
car and in the resulting crash, all 3 teenagers were killed. |
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Daniel died in July 1990 after accepting a lift with a young lad who lived nearby. After the crash it was discovered that the driver had been involved in a serious road crash at the age of sixteen for which he only received a police caution. Later, when qualified for 1 month, he was caught doing 60 mph in a 30 mph zone. . Sadly, no action was taken by the Police, so he was still able to drive and 2 months' later be responsible for the death of this young teenager. |
| Nicola died in 1990, just 3 weeks before her 18th birthday. She was a passenger with her boy-friend, who was newly qualified. They were with friends in several cars late on a Friday night and on their way to a party. The driver overtook the car in front and as he pulled in the back wheel hit some mud on the roadside. He lost control and the car somersaulted and hit a tree. Nicola died instantly.As an inexperienced driver he was unable to handle a powerful car, a Fiesta XR2i, in wet weather at night. |  |
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Debbie was just 16 when she died, in 1989, killed by a learner driver accompanied by his 18 year friend. At this time our driving laws allowed this whereas, in most of Europe this would have been illegal. Debbie was crossing the road when she was hit by the car, which was travelling too fast on the wrong side of the road. |
| Matthew was 17 when he went out for what
seemed like a fun trip with 3 friends. The young driver had passed his test
4 weeks before and the accident investigators assessed the speed at the
time of impact at 70mph. 2 of the young passengers died that night. |
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Philip was 18 and had been
driving for a year when he managed to save enough money for a Peugeot 205GTi
in 1992. His mother refused to pay to insure such a powerful car, but
Philip managed to insure it on a monthly basis. He had only paid three
months' premium when he took some friends out for a drive. Philip lost
control of the car on a very slight bend and both he and a young boy
passenger were killed. His mother believes that he did not appreciate the
difference in handling between his previous 205 and the much more
powerful GTi. |
| David had just celebrated his 18th birthday
and borrowed his mother's car to return his faulty Hi-Fi, a birthday gift.
Witnesses stated that he overtook 3 cars at an approximate speed of 60 mph. When repositioning the car in the lefthand lane, he over-steered due to lack of experience, lost control of the car, which went into a sideways slide, smashed into a wall and ended up facing in the opposite direction. |
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Zöe was a talented actress, singer and dancer with dreams , ambition and a tremendous zest for life. She had achieved good grades in her GCSEs and A levels and had been at Middlesex University for just 3 weeks. On the morning of 11 October 1997 she set off with one her new student friends to visit his parents. Alfonso drove too fast,overtook another car and lost control on a bend where he crashed into an oncoming car. They both died instantly. There was no alcohol or drugs in his bloodstream - their deaths were caused by the lethal combination of speed and inexperience. Zoe was only 20. |
| Gary was a trainee LGV driver who was
employed as part of the DFT, Young LGV Driver Scheme by a firm in
Scotland. He died after his car left the road and crashed into boulders at the
side. At the time of his death Gary had worked over 26 hours in a 2-day
period and was returning from yet another long journey for his
employers.This is a terrifying example of the effects of
over-tiredness caused by overwork. His employers were subsequently
admonished and fined for not ensuring that Gary had sufficient meal breaks
and rest periods. His vehicle was on loan to the company and did not
have a tachograph and as a trainee, the Court considered that he was not monitored as well as he should have been. Sadly they avoided any further responsibility. Gary was only 19 when he died. |
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| These are just a few of the many stories
grieving parents have told us. Sadly there are many more youngsters who have left an aching void in the hearts of parents, brothers and sisters. One died because he was asked to give directions to a novice driver;another because his young newly qualified friend did not know how to leave a motorway safely so their bodies ended up strewn over the access road. All these youngsters assumed they would be safe because none of the drivers were drunk, nor were any of the cars stolen.Don't let this happen to you, your mates or your family!
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