'If the law had been different, Charlotte would be alive now'

For Angie Churchill, the grief of losing her daughter Charlotte never goes away.

Charlotte, 19, died in a car crash in April 2011, when the car she was travelling in hit a tree. The "joyful, bubbly and creative" nursery nurse was with her boyfriend and one of her friends on a day trip to North Wales when the accident happened just outside Mold.

Angie, 60, from Wallasay in Wirral, has two other children - Karl, 39, and Olivia, 22 - but says she doesn't think about Charlotte any less than her other kids. "She's there in my thoughts every morning when I wake up", she adds.

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This week, Angie spoke to the ECHO about the ongoing impact of Charlotte's death on her family, and shared her thoughts on the proposed changes to the law concerning young drivers.

Paying tribute to her daughter, Angie said: "Char was just a lovely person, the most forgiving soul. She lived life to the full and just loved living. We used to call her the weekend millionaire because she used to spend every penny she had enjoying herself."

"When she died, I was amazed at how many people knew her. Loads of people got in touch, including the parents of the kids she worked with. They all said what a fun and bubbly character she was."

Charlotte's friend, who was driving the car at the time of the crash, was driving at night, on a road she wasn't familiar with. Angie describes the friend as a "lovely young woman, who would never have deliberately put anyone in danger".

The friend reportedly tried to keep up with the flow of traffic on the road and lost control as she went into a bend. Charlotte took the full impact of the collision, while her friend and boyfriend sustained minor injuries.

At the inquest into Charlotte's death, the driver of the car wasn't found to have consumed alcohol, drugs or driven too fast on the night of the accident. According to Angie, she was simply "an inexperienced driver".

Inexperience is likely to be a major factor in the disproportionate number of young drivers involved in serious car accidents in the UK. According to Road Peace, a national charity for road crash victims, despite only accounting for seven percent of the driving population, young drivers between the ages of 17 and 24 are involved in 24 percent of all crashes resulting in death or serious injury.

In February, a national campaign was launched to introduce changes to the law for young drivers. The proposals - outlined in a petition set up by a mum who lost her son in a car crash in Wales in November last year - would place certain restrictions on newly qualified drivers through a progressive licensing system for under 25s.

If the proposed changes were to be enacted, young drivers would not be allowed to carry passengers under the age of 25 for the first year after passing their test. There would also be restrictions on young drivers driving at night and they would have to have a minimum learning period of 40 hours to enable them to gain experience on different roads and different driving conditions.

Road Peace cites data from transport safety studies, car insurance companies and driving charities "over many years" showing that drivers under the age of 24 are "more likely to have crashes when they are carrying similar aged passengers in their car, when driving at night and when driving conditions are difficult".

Graduated driving licenses have been introduced in a number of countries, including Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In response to the petition, the Department for Transport said there are "no plans to introduce tougher restrictions on new drivers" but added it is keeping licensing requirements "under review".

A parliamentary review on the issue in 2013 noted that the proposed restrictions might affect the employment prospects of young people. The report also raised concerns that people living in rural areas would be disproportionately disadvantaged by the proposed changes, and that they would "penalise all novice drivers for the sake of a few bad drivers".

For her part, Angie has a nuanced approach to the matter, and is keen to emphasise that every case is different. But she is clear that "if it's going to save young people's lives", she would back the proposed changes "100 percent". She added: "if the law had been different at the time, Char would be alive now."

Angie told the ECHO: "Char's friend is such a good person and a good citizen. If it could happen to someone like her, imagine what else could happen if you're being irresponsible."

Wirral-based charity Aftermath Support, which provides assistance to people on Merseyside affected by road deaths and serious injuries, is backing the campaign to change the law for young drivers.

Karen Blair, CEO of Aftermath Support said: "We firmly support the adoption of a Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) system in the UK to protect our newest, most inexperienced drivers. GDL has been proven effective in many countries in Europe and across the world in reducing crash rates among young motorists. Why would we not do everything we can to save lives and protect our young people in the UK in the same way?"

"No parent should have to bury their child due to a road crash that could have been prevented with more training and supervised practice. No family should have their lives shattered because an inexperienced young driver lacked the skills to handle a high-risk situation on the roads. And no surviving young driver or passenger should have to endure the trauma and lifelong consequences of such preventable tragedies.

"We owe it to them all - the families bereaved, the young lives forever altered, and all other road users - to implement evidence-based safety measures like Graduated Driver Licensing to protect our inexperienced young people and prevent more heartbreak on our roads."

If you’ve been affected by a fatal or serious injury road collision in Merseyside and need some help and support, you can contact Aftermath Support on 0151 777 2562.

Charlotte's spirit lives on through the work of Charlotte's Brightside, a charity set up by Angie . The charity aims to build a supportive community and "advance and relieve the needs of young people". You can find out more about it here.

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