Road safety strategy must go further, says PCC

The police and crime commissioner (PCC) for Warwickshire, whose 16-year-old relative died in a car crash, has welcomed new road safety measures launched by the government, but said they did not go far enough.

Philip Seccombe said the new guidance set ambitious targets, but ignored measures such as graduated or progressive driving licences, which would place restrictions on newly-qualified motorists.

Matilda "Tilly" Seccombe, the PCC's second cousin, was one of three teenagers killed in a crash near Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire, in April 2023.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: "Every death on our roads is a tragedy and we continue to work tirelessly to improve road safety."

A recent coroner's report on the crash near Shipston-on-Stour revealed the driver of the car, Edward Spencer, then 17, was using a mobile phone and "taking selfies" just before the incident, Seccombe said.

"It's just not right for a young driver to do that, who's only passed their test weeks before."

In April last year, Spencer was given a two-year custodial sentence after admitting causing the teenagers' deaths by careless driving.

Seccombe said the parents of his late relative were "devastated still" and "very much behind road safety measures to stop this from happening to other families".

"To be killed by a school friend, on the way back from school, by someone who's just passed their licence is avoidable," stated Seccombe, Conservative.

"That's what we're trying to do."

The government's road safety strategy measures include lower limits for drink-driving and regular eye checks for motorists over 70.

But it has said it has no plans to introduce licensing changes.

A petition calling for the introduction of progressive licences by Crystal Owen from Shrewsbury, whose son Harvey was killed in November, has been signed by more than 20,000 people.

"Seventy percent of people back them, so they're not unpopular," Seccombe said.

"So I'm hoping with some lobbying and some evidence and stats and people like the AA and the RAC getting behind this, which they are, we've got a chance."

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: "We've commissioned research designed to help learner and newly-qualified drivers improve their skills and safety, while our THINK! campaign is specifically targeted at young drivers."

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