‘It’s protective not restrictive’: Bereaved families attend government debate over safer driving licensing
A group of bereaved families, who are continuing to campaign for safer driving licensing for newly qualified 17 to 19 year old drivers, recently attended a Westminster Hall debate.
Chris and Nicole Taylor from Northampton, who lost their daughter Beccy to a road traffic incident in 2008 when she was just 18 years old, were among the 15 bereaved family members in attendance.
Beccy lost control when her car hit surface water caused by a blocked drain on a road between Blisworth and Milton Malsor, and her parents have worked tirelessly to spark important conversations and improve road safety ever since.
The pair are among a group of 40 parents who joined forces last year to demand immediate action, and tackle the “unacceptable and disproportionately high” number of young driver and passenger deaths on UK roads.
The Forget-me-not Families Uniting group has been supported by Crystal Owen from Shrewsbury, whose 17-year-old son Harvey was one of the four killed in a tragic road incident last November.
The group now has a closed Facebook group for bereaved families to join forces on their campaign work, as well as helping each other to emotionally process their grief and loss.
“Numbers create strength,” said Nicole, who added it is a double-edged sword that the group has now exceeded more than 200 members. “Sadly our group is getting bigger, but more powerful.”
It had been two years since the last Westminster Hall debate on this topic and Shrewsbury MP Julia Buckley, who has supported Crystal Owen since the tragic loss of her son, called for it to be discussed again.
The group were pleased to see Lilian Greenwood MP, Minister for the Future of Roads at the Department for Transport, was in attendance. She was joined by a number of MPs from across the country, some of whom have been impacted by road tragedies themselves.
Nicole explained the issue that a number of aspects feed into road incidents and collisions, including public transport links, mobility, car safety and employment.
Nicole described the “distraction conversation” which unfortunately took away from the issue itself during the debate – and some supported the message that a graduated driving license would take away the freedom of young drivers.
Despite this, the group came away feeling there was more support for their campaign work and a petition on the issue has now exceeded 95,000 signatures.
“We are trying to get people to understand this is protective rather than restrictive,” said Nicole, who emphasised that the aim is to protect young people and not take away their power to drive altogether.
The Forget-me-not Families Uniting group looks forward to meeting with Lilian Greenwood MP to continue discussions on the topic, as well as pushing the petition through their social media presence.