Teenage tragedy

There truly are no words for the loss of these poor boys and their grieving families.

BlueBelle

There is a scheme GSM whereby you can have a box in your car and you don’t drive after a certain time at night and any speeding or such is recorded It’s done by the insurers I think, I can’t remember the name of it but my grandson had it when he was first driving Hes actually a very good safe driver

I know MayBee but we need something that’s compulsory. My son was, and is, a good, safe driver (though of course I always worried about him after he passed his test at 17 and had his first car). But so many aren’t, especially with friends to impress. We don’t know about this young lad. His poor parents will not only be having to deal with their own grief, they will probably be facing the reactions of the families of all the passengers - as if it’s their fault - but people who are grieving naturally seek someone to blame for their loss.

Devastating. Those poor boys and their families.

Yes I think quite a few of us have Grandsons/granddaughters/nieces/ nephews and other relations learning to drive.
I really did not want to pay for some of gsons driving lesson yet, I wanted him to wait until he was 18 with another years life experience. But of course many 17 yr old get their provisional licence for their 17th birthday.

I was hoping and praying they were in a tent somewhere huddled together, it did not even cross my mind anything awful when they said they had found the car, I presumed it was just parked up.

This is absolutely heartbreaking.

So very sad those poor boys my own GD is learning to drive and I shall worry constantly when she does pass the actual driving test. Sincere and deepest sympathy to the families and friends of these young boys taken far too soon.

Utterly tragic news, those poor families, and their community, too.

We were fairly relaxed about rules in general for our teenage DC but one I did emphasise was that they were never to get into a car which a friend was driving. I’d rather go out at short notice at midnight to pick them up from 20 miles away if needs be. Obviously I can’t know whether they stuck to that rule 100% but because they had lost friends in similar horrific incidents, I hope it was always at the back of their minds.

It is absolutely awful isn't it.

I'm sure lots of us remember not being able to sleep until the last child was home and also the loss of their contemporaries. Each of our children lost school mates.

I feel so sad for the parents and grandparents of these four boys. My DGS, now 18, has saved up and bought a decent second-hand car. The test is this Thursday. I won't rest until I hear the result.

DD passed her test first time when she was 17 and a few months later drove herself from Cornwall to Surrey to go to university. She always has been a very good driver. At least we knew that she was always driving herself while she was away and not having lifts from other students.

I gather that one of the boys told his mother he was going to stay with his friend's grandfather. If she'd known what they were planning she wouldn't have let him go. Tragically Mum is sometimes right.

BlueBelle

There is a scheme GSM whereby you can have a box in your car and you don’t drive after a certain time at night and any speeding or such is recorded It’s done by the insurers I think, I can’t remember the name of it but my grandson had it when he was first driving Hes actually a very good safe driver

Black Box.

I have 3 GC living in Canberra, Australia. Over there, they can start doing their theory at 15years 9months, then practical driving at 16. They can take a test at 17. Both GS passed their tests as soon as they turned 17.

But they have to have a provisional P plate for I think a year after they pass, and they are restricted having other young people in their vehicle at night time, apart from siblings.

It seems a good system on the whole.

I found myself weeping at this news. I drove 70 miles to visit my sister on Sunday. I left early so I could drive home before dark, I hadn’t intended to but, the weather was awful. We are north west. The rain was heavy and relentless, the side roads had frequent patches of standing deep water. I’m a confident, experienced and increasingly careful driver. Luckily other road users were being very cautious.
We don’t know what happened with those boys. What a tragedy

This brought me to tears. 4 youngsters with whole lives ahead. They looked such lovely boys and I was hoping they would be ok. Now 4 families devastated. So terribly tragic. May they RIP.

Beyond heartbreaking. When I heard the news at lunchtime I too imagined it had just been found parked up. I had hoped to hear at tea time that the boys had been found safe, huddled together in a tent somewhere.

My thoughts go to their families and friends. 💐

Thanks Calandergirl yes black box
My two in NZ were driving at 16 seems too young to me
My 3 children all drove at 17 and all have had a perfect driving history 5 of my grandkids were all drivers at 17 , two haven’t bothered yet
Yes this situation is heartbreaking I hope they all went quickly and together we ll never know poor families and just before Christmas

Heart breaking news, so very sad . My thoughts and prayers are with the families of these young men. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

Utterly heartbreaking thoughts and prayers with the families

A tragedy for the boys, and for their families and friends.

There have been two similar accidents in my area in the past few years, seven teenagers killed in total. In another accident the driver and his friend received life changing injuries.

It really needs to be illegal to carry passengers, with some exceptions such as parents, for a year or two after passing your test.

They were boys, only one was just 18.

I do wish the news reporters would stop referring to them as men. They were boys going off on an adventure, just as so many of us did when we were young.
😥

www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/company-car-tax-and-legislation/2023/04/24/new-drivers-aged-under-25-could-be-banned-from-carrying-young-passengers

New rules have been under discussion.

Such a tragic accident.

Let's hope some adjustments are made V3ra . There will be peer pressure on a young driver to drive without the necessary experience of road and weather conditions.

A similar rule, of not allowing young passengers, came into place in NZ about 12 years ago. Before that, 15 yr olds could apply for a licence. There were some objections from the rural community where youngsters had learned to drive tractors on the farm.

We had an almost identical accident in our area earlier this year. 4 lads, the same age as the quartet in Wales, in a car that drove into a tree, 3 killed, 1 with life threatening injuries.

These two accidents are not the only ones like this that have happened this year. What can we do to reduce them?

Raising the age for driving a car is impractical. Should young drivers have to go through a one year provisional licence when they are restricted in how many other people their age they can have in a car they are driving, perhaps limit how powerful a car under 25s can drive, our local tragedy involved a youngster driving his Dad's BMW.

Across the country, so many grieving families.

There should be restrictions on young drivers carrying more than one passenger, we had an accident locally, 3 died, the driver survived with injuries, 3 injured in another car. This was straight road good conditions. No verdict yet on what happened, so devastating for all the families.

Those poor families. We are now able, with modern medical imaging, to confirm what most of us would recognise- that the part of the brain which assesses risk is not fully developed until we are out of our teens. Dangerous behaviours in the young have been the subject of despair by their elders forever - Pliny complains about young men's reckless chariot riding. I am not sure that legislation will help - I suspect it would be ignored.

A group of 5 lads drove into the back of me at a T junction after a bend when I was waiting to turn onto a main road. It's a narrow road and there was no space to get out. My DD aged 6 months was in her front car seat, DS aged 9 in the back Luckily my DS took the number as they drove off.
None of us was badly hurt but whiplash is horrible and we were without a car for months as ours was a write off.

Later we discovered the boys were uninsured and in a borrowed car.

Passengers change the weight of a car so you need to brake sooner for the vehicle takes longer to stop. These things come with experience.