Grieving Shrewsbury mum hands 100,000 signature petition to Downing Street

Crystal Owen has been fighting for the introduction of graduated driving licences for young people since the death of her own son Harvey.

The 17-year-old was killed with three of his friends in a shocking and tragic road accident during a camping trip to North Wales.

The four teenagers, all from Shrewsbury, died when their car veered off a rural road in November 2023.

Crystal has since campaigned for the introduction of greater restrictions on young drivers, who have just passed their test.

Today, she was joined by five other mums whose lives have been ruined by tragedy to present a petition to 10 Downing Street.

Bridget Lucas, Alison Greenhouse, Joanne Alkir, Nicola Bell, and Naomi Crane, all had children, aged between 17 and 20, who died in car crashes in recent years.

The petition calls for graduated licences for 17 to 19 year olds, and comes after the AA, the RAC, and the North Wales coroner, have all urged the government to look at tightening restrictions on newly qualified drivers.

The proposed changes include a minimum six-month learning period for learner drivers before they are eligible for a practical test.

They would also see the introduction of restrictions for new drivers, where for the first six months after passing their test, or until they turn 20, drivers should not carry passengers aged 25 or under unless accompanied by an older adult.

Those breaching the rules should also receive six penalty points - leading to immediate license suspension and the requirement to retake the practical test.

The final proposal is the introduction of 'Harvey’s hammer' - mandate that all cars be fitted with a tool that could smash open a window if a car is trapped, to allow occupants to escape to safety.

Crystal said it had been an emotional moment as she handed over the box containing the names of more than 103,000 people who have backed the petition.

She said: "To be honest usually I am in robot mode with this because you have to get through it but as soon as I picked up the box I was in tears."

But, she said there was frustration from her, and her fellow campaigners, that the government does not appear interested in considering changes.

She said: "We all just feel frustrated. The government is not listening."

During a debate in January, Minister for the Future of Roads Lilian Greenwood recognised that young people are disproportionately victims of tragic collisions on the roads, but said the UK Government is not considering graduated licences.

She said the government is exploring options to “tackle the root causes of this without unfairly penalising young drivers”.

Crystal said the lack of support from the government was emotional for all of those involved in the campaign.

She said the aim was to ensure other families do not endure the same pain, saying: "None of us was to be there, it is just frustrating we are putting ourselves through this."

She added that the government was ignoring experts from road safety on the issue.

But she said the increasing number of affected parents joining together behind the cause was adding weight to the campaign.

She said: "I think until now it has been lots of people trying to do this for years but it has been lone voices, but with us grouping together we have got more strength, we can support each other, and keep pushing this message out in our local communities."

The petition is still available online and Crystal said parents affected by road tragedies are invited to join the private Forget Me Not Families Uniting Facebook group by sending a request on the social media platform.