Why will an empty chair tour 17 city landmarks?

The family of a 17-year-old who was killed while a passenger in a car with his friends are stepping up their campaign for graduated driving licences to be introduced in England.

Max's Mission will be visiting 17 Liverpool landmarks for 17 minutes each this weekend, carrying an empty chair to represent Lydiate teenager Max Greenhouse, who was fatally injured on 11 December 2024.

Campaigners say it will be a visual reminder of the young lives missing from families, friendship groups and communities because of preventable road deaths.

Northern Ireland is introducing graduated licences, which restrict new drivers during their first few months on the road.

Max was a passenger in a Vauxhall Corsa that hit a farm building on Fir Tree Lane in Aughton, Lancashire.

Three other boys survived.

Max's family is part of the Forget Me Not Families Uniting campaign group, which includes people who have lost loved ones in crashes involving young drivers.

Max's mum, Alison Greenhouse, believes graduated licences are needed because young drivers "don't yet have fully formed decision-making skills".

"This isn't penalising young people when it's saving lives," she said. "It's six months in a 17-year-old's life."

She said the empty chair travelling around Liverpool symbolises "the empty chair at our own dinner table".

Family friend Helen Collins, whose own 17-year-old son is learning to drive, is also backing the campaign.

"If this could be brought in, it would mean that we'd be empowered as parents to keep our kids that little bit safer," she said.

Rules due to be introduced in Northern Ireland later this year will require:

• New drivers cannot take their driving test for at least six months after receiving a provisional licence, with the exemption for carers
• They must also complete 14 modules in a training programme which must be signed off by an approved driving instructor or a supervising driver such as a parent or guardian
• The time new drivers must display an 'R' plate style mark on their vehicles after passing their test will increase from one year to two with a different colour of 'R' plate denoting a driver in their initial six-month period
• New drivers under 24 only permitted to have one passenger aged 14 to 20 in their car between 23:00 and 06:00 for the first six months after passing their test
• The above restriction would not include immediate family members and if someone aged 21 or over, who has held a driver's licence for at least three years, is sitting in the front seat
• Learner drivers can drive on the motorway if accompanied by an approved instructor and will be allowed to drive on the motorway up to the posted speed limit, after passing their test

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