Teenage car crash tragedy sparks Westminster debate

And ‘Harvey’s Hammer’ – a potentially life-saving device to enable people trapped in a crashed car to escape the vehicle – could be among a raft of measures aimed at reducing the number of road tragedies involving young drivers.

Named in memory of Shropshire teenager Harvey Owen who died with his three young friends in a horror crash in North Wales, the device, similar to those seen on the windows of trains and buses, would allow trapped occupants to escape to safety.

Hugo Morris, 18, Jevon Hirst, 16, Harvey Owen and Wilf Fitchett, both 17, died in the incident in North Wales in November 2023.

Shrewsbury MP Julia Buckley said: “That tragic and horrific incident in North Wales is one of the reasons I’ve called for a debate around the safety of youngsters on our roads.

“But sadly, this awful story of young lives lost is not unfamiliar because in rural towns and rural areas like mine where the public services have been decimated – we’ve lost 5,000 bus routes since 2010 – many, many 17-year-olds find themselves with simply no alternative but to learn to drive in order to be able to access education, sport and social activities.

“That experience is reflected across the country but it’s particularly so in those rural areas where those young drivers aged between 17 and 24 are consistently overrepresented in the grim statistics for road traffic fatalities.

“And actually, very distressingly, globally, road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for young people between the ages of 15 and 29. And one in five drivers will crash within their first year on the road.”

Mrs Buckley, who has now been granted a debate on the subject in Westminster Hall on January 28, told the House of Commons earlier this month: “There is now a national campaign group called Forget Me Not bringing together those families who’ve lost young people, and one of those campaigners, Crystal Owen, the mother of Harvey Owen, who’s from my constituency, put together a petition with 22,000 signatures, asking the Minsters if they would look at some measures to protect young drivers.”

Crystal Owen, along with other members of the Forget Me Not campaign group, will be in Westminster next week to observe the debate.

Mrs Buckley said those new measures being sought might include additional training for young drivers, progressive licensing, and “safety measures such as what we are calling Harvey’s Hammer, a device that could smash open a window if your car is trapped, and which would have saved many lives.”

Mrs Buckley appealed to Ministers: “These policies must go hand in hand with the other work that we’re doing to increase public transport, and particularly in rural areas. It must be a viable alternative. My dream is that we have evening bus services and a Sunday service in Shrewsbury. That is the thing that will encourage young people to embrace public transport rather than risking their lives on the road.”