17 February 2024 , 23:07
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The devastated mum of one of the four teens killed in a camping trip tragedy is calling for stricter laws for young drivers.
Crystal Owen’s son Harvey and three pals drowned when their car swerved into a ditch and overturned. Three months on, Crystal wants a ban on drivers under 25 carrying passengers until a year after passing their test.
Crystal, 39, says the lads could still be alive if the driver had been more experienced. She told us: “I’ve cried so many tears my eyes are raw. As a family we will struggle to ever come to terms with this loss, a life so full of promise cut short. I no longer feel I will ever find any contentment or joy in life as there is a huge void that cannot ever be filled.”
Sixth form student Harvey, 17, was on a weekend getaway with college mates Jevon Hirst, 16, Wilf Fitchett, 17 and Hugo Morris, 18, in November. After spending a night at a grand-parent’s house, they set off on a camping adventure but, less than an hour later, their Ford Fiesta crashed near Garreg, North Wales.
Crystal, who lives in the boys’ home town of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, had thought a parent was driving that weekend. Instead, a young friend she had never met got behind the wheel. Authorities have not publicly identified who was driving.
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Harvey, 17, was on a weekend getaway with college mates Jevon Hirst, 16, Wilf Fitchett, 17 and Hugo Morris, 18Crystal said: “It should have been an uneventful Sunday – I had always been a careful parent, instilling an ethos in my children of not engaging in risky behaviours. Harvey sent me a picture of the view from his friend’s grandad’s house, and that was the last contact I will ever have with my son.”
Crystal has launched a petition calling on the Government to introduce a graduated licencing system. Versions of this are law in the US, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and have reduced young driver crashes by 30%.
Campaigners here want a similar change as 1,500 young drivers are killed or seriously hurt in the UK each year – and are four times more likely to crash with passengers. Speaking for the first time since the tragedy, Crystal said: “The graduated licencing system could have saved Harvey and his friends and prevented thousands of families from having to suffer this pain.”
She needs 100,000 signatures in less than six months to ensure the topic is debated in parliament. Crystal is being backed by local MP Daniel Kawczynski who is organising a meeting with the Transport Secretary and other campaigners.
She added: “Harvey was the most kind and charismatic boy you could ever meet and I will not stop campaigning, along with other parents, until the law is changed.”
The petition can be signed here.