Shrewsbury MP Julia Buckley read a statement from Crystal Owen, mother of Harvey Owen, at a debate on road safety for young drivers in Westminster Hall on Tuesday morning.
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00:00We're going to be hearing lots of suggestions today about all the measures that can help try to prevent these tragedies
00:06because each death is an avoidable tragedy that freezes them in time
00:10forever prevented from growing up to fulfil their full potential
00:14such as Harvey Owen, the son of my constituents, who was killed in a fatal car crash whilst travelling from Shrewsbury
00:21with three other young men, all of whom were killed in the accident
00:25four young lives, taken too soon and leaving their families behind with an unbearable void where their child should be
00:34Crystal Owen, Harvey's mother, has taken that raw pain and channelled her energy into a focus campaign
00:40she's dedicated and selfless in her advocacy of young drivers and their families
00:45it is on behalf of Crystal Owen that I have requested today's debate
00:49she's sitting with us here today surrounded by other families of young people also killed in serious car crashes
00:56and I thank you all for coming today for what cannot be an easy day
00:59we really appreciate your willingness
01:01they have formed a support group called Forget Me Not to campaign together so that nobody else has to suffer as they have
01:08with Crystal's permission I'm now going to read out the story of Harvey Owen written in her words
01:13because nothing I could say could do justice to her personal tragedy
01:19Crystal's story
01:21My kind-hearted son Harvey had just turned 17 in November 2023
01:26a couple of weeks later he asked me if he could go to Wales with two friends he had known since school
01:31it was to be his first weekend away with friends
01:34and as a parent I felt it was time to give him a little freedom
01:37he and his friends planned to stay at one of their granddad's houses
01:40and when I heard this I thought, what harm can come to him?
01:43it was a trusted friend's family in a safe place
01:46it felt like the right thing to do to let him experience a little bit more independence
01:51at this age you need to give them a little freedom right?
01:54so I agreed
01:56after seeing a video of one of the parents confirming where they were staying
01:59I had no reason to doubt Harvey's story about who was driving
02:02we had always known Harvey's friends
02:04our home was often where the boys would gather to play music for many years
02:07as far as we knew he had no friends who had even passed their driving tests
02:11so we felt comfortable with the situation
02:14Harvey seemed so grown up now, mature and responsible
02:17I thought to myself, he was ready for this
02:20before he left Harvey sat in his bedroom playing Ring of Fire on his guitar
02:24knowing I loved this song
02:26I told him how proud I was of him, how talented he was
02:30I gave him a hug telling him I loved him
02:33he jokingly told me to stop being weird and then said he loved me too
02:37and not long after that he left
02:40it was the last time I would ever see my beautiful son
02:45the following morning Harvey sent me a picture message of the view from the cottage
02:49and everything seemed fine
02:51however what I didn't know at the time was that the boys had decided to go on a camping trip
02:55it later transpired that another 18 year old boy Harvey had recently met at college
02:59a newly qualified driver, had also gone
03:02and was actually the one driving
03:04just over an hour later after sending me the text
03:07my son and his three friends were dead
03:11after some of my texts didn't go through I started to get concerned
03:15the next thing I knew we were frantically driving around Snowdonia
03:18having discovered they were missing
03:20our worries soon turned to panic and we made our way to Bangor police station
03:24the feeling of being told they had found four bodies
03:27and they believed one to be my son is indescribable
03:30the pain of that moment felt as much physical as it did mental
03:34it was as if my world had stopped right there
03:37in that instant
03:39a suffocating numbness washed over me and I felt I was being ripped apart from the inside
03:43time felt like it froze like everything around me became a blur
03:47it was as though the world was no longer a place I wanted to be
03:50the life I had known
03:52filled with my son's laughter, his music, his dreams
03:55was ripped away in an instance
03:58it is an unbearable shock and pain
04:01I wanted to die myself just to escape the nightmare I was now living
04:06the thought of facing a world without my son
04:09without his presence was too much to bear
04:11I don't remember much after this moment
04:13my partner said I was howling
04:15saying on repeat it couldn't be Harvey
04:17I knew in that instant I would only exist for the rest of my days
04:22it later emerged that the young driver had lost control of the car
04:25on a bend of a rural road
04:27the vehicle ended up in a water filled ditch
04:29and despite their attempts to escape
04:31all four boys tragically drowned
04:34the news of their deaths was overwhelming
04:37to know that Harvey and his friends had suffered such a tragic end
04:40unable to survive and escape the car
04:43is a pain I cannot put into words
04:46the grief I feel in the wake of this loss is all consuming
04:49the loss of my son has left a permanent aching void in my life
04:53it's something that unless you are unfortunate enough to ever experience yourself
04:57you will never come close to understanding pain
05:01in the months following Harvey's passing I could barely function
05:04only leaving my bed to attend the funeral
05:06the circumstances surrounding his trip have weighed heavily on me
05:09I would never have allowed him to go if I had known the full details
05:12a friend informed me that in some countries
05:15newly qualified drivers are not allowed to take peer-aid passengers for a set period
05:19and are required to gain experience on rural roads first
05:23it seemed like common sense to me and I thought it was a no-brainer
05:26after weeks of research I began my campaign
05:29to make driving safer for young drivers
05:31advocating for change in the light of the shocking statistic
05:34that 76% of fatalities in crashes involving young drivers
05:39are not the driver themselves
05:41anyone could be affected
05:43I've had to publicly share my grief
05:46putting it on display for the media in order to leverage their coverage
05:50and raise awareness about the horrifying statistics
05:53around young drivers' death crashes
05:56all of this while I still haven't had the time or space to process my own pain
06:01in October 2024 at the inquest
06:04we learned that the boys had all been practically unharmed by the crash
06:07they were conscious and tried to escape the car
06:10thanks to the manual back windows Harvey was able to wind his window down
06:14however due to the lack of a simple safety hammer
06:17something that could have shattered the glass in seconds
06:20and cut through seatbelts
06:22precious time was lost
06:24the thought of Harvey and the boys' final moments
06:26will haunt me for the rest of my life
06:29I strongly believe that such a safety tool
06:31should be made mandatory in all cars
06:33while it's difficult to determine how many lives
06:35such devices could save in the long run
06:37in cases like Harvey's
06:39it would have made the difference between life and death
06:43although ultimately I feel it's a reactive solution
06:46to a more deep-rooted problem
06:48if Harvey wasn't able to get in the car
06:50due to safety measures to protect newly qualified drivers and their passengers
06:53he would not need the hammer as the crash would not have taken place
06:57my campaign is not about punishing young people
07:00but about protecting them
07:02implementing these safety measures would help safeguard their lives
07:04by addressing the risks associated with inexperience and impulsivity
07:08allowing them to enjoy their freedom
07:10without facing unnecessary danger
07:13during the course of the inquest
07:15the evidence revealed matters giving rise to concern
07:17which the coroner published
07:19stating that he felt there is a risk that future deaths will occur
07:22unless action is taken
07:24where younger people are carried in motor vehicles
07:26driven by newly qualified and or young drivers
07:29and that preventative action should be taken
07:32after nearly a year of campaigning
07:34I should have felt relief when the coroner issued
07:36this preventing future deaths report
07:38but sadly, as part of the Forget Me Not Families United group
07:42I know that similar recommendations have been made in the past
07:45with no real change
07:47unfortunately, there will never be a victory for families like ours
07:51because our children are gone forever
07:54if people truly understand the depth of our pain
07:57along with the level of commitment we parents put into researching the overwhelming evidence
08:01we might be taken more seriously in our fight for change
08:05I hope this debate forces everyone to confront the scale of the problem
08:09every day without action means more families torn apart
08:12more lives lost
08:14protecting young drivers, their passengers and other road users
08:18should never be a matter of political division
08:20it's a moral issue
08:22the evidence is clear
08:23young people's brains are still developing
08:25making them more prone to risky decisions behind the wheel
08:28protecting young drivers isn't just about statistics
08:31it's about lives lost
08:33thank you Crystal for your story
08:35we really appreciate that