A CAMPAIGN launched by the mother of a teenager who died in a crash in Cumbria has received the backing of the county's crime tsar.
Cumbria’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner David Allen met with campaigner Sharron Huddleston to give his support for Graduated Drivers Licences (GDL).
Sharron's daughter Caitlin was a passenger in a car being driven by her friend Skye Mitchell, who had passed her driving test four months previously.
The girls, both aged 18, died in the crash in 2017 on the A595 in Bootle after the car collided with an oncoming van.
The driver lost control of the car on a bend in a wet rural road. A third passenger, aged 18, and an oncoming van driver, were also seriously injured in the crash.
Following the tragedy of losing her daughter, Sharron began campaigning for a British Graduated Driving Licensing system.
READ MORE: Mum of teen who died in Cumbria crash wants driving licence law change
GDLs would prohibit young, newly-qualified drivers from carrying peer-aged passengers until they have been driving for at least six months, providing them with more time to gain skills as independent drivers.
GDLs have already been adopted by other countries with success including in Victoria in Australia. It introduced Graduated Drivers Licences in 2007 and by 2013 saw a reduction in fatal collisions by 30% and 13% reduction for fatal and seriously injured collisions combined.
In New Zealand, the introduction of GDLs led to a reduction in car crash injuries by 23% for 15–19-year-olds and 12% for 20–24-year-olds.
Mr Allen said he was '100% in support' of the introduction of GDLs.
Mr Allen added: “Passing your driver’s test as a seventeen-year-old is an incredibly exciting rite of passage. It’s also, in our rural county, something that is a necessity. However, getting behind the wheel of a car without an experienced driver is a massive responsibility.
“Whilst I know that there would be some challenges to the GDL, which I fully appreciate, our goal is to keep our young children, young adults and those passing their tests for the first time safe and to keep them alive.
“Sharron is incredibly passionate about ensuring other parents, and young people, do not have to go through the unimaginable loss that she has experienced with losing her daughter.
Sharron said: “The main cause of death to our younger generation is road crashes and these crashes mainly occur on rural roads. The combination of youth and inexperience, puts younger drivers at high risk in those first few critical months after passing their driving test.
“We need urgent and effective action from Government to introduce safety precautions in the form of a Graduated Driving Licensing system, to help reduce the devastating deaths and serious injuries of young people in road traffic collisions. The overwhelming evidence from other countries that a GDL system improves safety is compelling.
“Road crashes devastate families forever. Road crashes should not be just accepted and thought of as inevitable. I am determined to raise awareness to parents around the huge risks facing young drivers and their young passengers on our roads. Graduated Driving Licensing would see young drivers and their passengers so much better protected.”
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