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Father of teenage girl killed in crash warns 'driving tests are a waste of time'

By PAUL SIMS
Last updated at 22:00pm on 8th November 2006

The father of a teenage girl killed along with three friends in a car crash fought back tears as he made an impassioned plea for a radical overhaul of the driving test.

Louise Jones and best friends Kayleigh Parry, 16, Katie Roberts and Danielle Caswell, both 15, were squeezed into the back of a car when it careered off an isolated mountain road.

The 17-year-old driver, who had only passed his test three days before the accident, lost control of the Vauxhall Corsa when it skidded on ice and crashed into moorland in South Wales.

He and a male passenger, also 17, survived the horrific crash on the dangerous B4560 near Ebbw Vale, Gwent, and have since been released from hospital.

Terry Jones spoke movingly of his 'beautiful' 16-year-old daughter before calling for tighter controls on learner drivers.

"In my opinion, driving tests today are a total waste of time," he said.

"The driving test as it stands now is not worth the paper it is written on. It's a complete joke.

"It's crazy that teenagers can take an intensive course over the same route where they sit their driving test. They can then take to the roads without having instruction on how to drive on motorways or other types of road.

"The tests should be a lot tougher and then new drivers should be carefully monitored after they have passed."

The father-of-three said learner drivers should be expected to clock up 200 hours of lessons, followed by 100 hours of driving without passengers before they are allowed to take a test.

He added: "Their movements should be logged by experienced instructors until they have clocked up the 300 hours.

"The instruction should be as stringent as it is for airline pilots because at the moment kids can pass their tests in five days and jump into the most powerful cars in the road."

The 56-year-old fruit and veg wholesaler claimed he was sure the teenager driving the car was "showing off" when it crashed but insisted he did not blame him for his daughter's death.

Dyfed Powys Police said detectives would be interviewing both boys about the crash, including the speed the car was going and the fact it was overloaded.

They were A-level students at the 800-pupil Glyncoed Comprehensive School in Ebbw Vale, where the girls were due to take their GCSEs next summer.

Mr Jones, who was accompanied by his wife Georgina and their son Christopher, also denied reports that girls had been drinking on the night of the tragedy.

His plea for stricter controls comes just days after the House of Commons Transport Select Committee said it would look at raising the driving age to 18 in an effort to cut the carnage caused by young, rogue drivers.

Motoring groups and road safety campaigners have welcomed the move which was announced after a campaign by the Daily Mail to raise the minimum age for a full licence.

Among the changes being considered include new pre-test requirements such as a minimum number of hours or miles driving, or a minimum period between obtaining a provisional licence and taking the test.

A coalition of insurance, motoring and road safety groups spearheaded by the Association of British Insurers believes raising the L-test age could cut road deaths by 1,000 each year.

According to statistics drivers aged 17 to 19 are ten times more likely to have an accident than those aged over 30. Many are also uninsured, untaxed, and driving cars without an MoT.

And whilst men aged 17 to 20 account for just 3 per cent of the driving population, they represent 33 per cent of convictions for dangerous driving.

The Government estimates that nearly 38,800 people are killed or injured each year in collisions involving at least one driver with less than two years' post-test experience.

Cathy Keeler, head of campaigns at road safety charity Brake, said: "The Government must tackle road death and injury involving young people by introducing a system of graduated driver licensing.

"This would involve a minimum period of learning to drive, followed by a provisional licence period where newly-qualified drivers have restrictions placed upon them, such as night-time driving curfews and limits on numbers of passengers."

An inquest into the latest tragedy has been opened and adjourned.

The 17-year-old driver, who had only passed his test three days before the accident, lost control of the Vauxhall Corsa when it skidded on ice and crashed into moorland in South Wales.

But then , as i said elsewhere - in days of old ,before production line driVer training - someone would have taught him what to do in a skid, as ice happens EVERY YEAR.

"This would involve a minimum period of learning to drive, followed by a provisional licence period where newly-qualified drivers have restrictions placed upon them, such as night-time driving curfews and limits on numbers of passengers."

According to statistics drivers aged 17 to 19 are ten times more likely to have an accident than those aged over 30

"This would involve a minimum period of learning to drive, followed by a provisional licence period where newly-qualified drivers have restrictions placed upon them, such as night-time driving curfews and limits on numbers of passengers."

The tests should be a lot tougher ...

.....Many are also uninsured, untaxed, and driving cars without an MoT.

Gatsobait

Several times I've had groups of 8 or 9 wanting to squeeze in to save the price of a second cab, and usually called me a jobsworth when I've refused.