Exclusive: Cumbria's PFCC to write to all police commissioners asking for support for Caitlin's campaign

Caitlin's campaign are hoping to see newly qualified drivers banned from carrying young under a Graduated Driving Licence scheme.

The plans would mean drivers would not be allowed to carry passengers under 25 in the first year or six months after passing their test.

Sharron Huddleston's been campaigning for the law change after her daughter, Caitlin, was killed in a car crash in 2017 as a front seat passenger. The driver, Caitlin's friend Skye Mitchell, 18, also died. She had passed her test four months previously. Another teenager in the back seat survived the crash with serious injuries.

The Coroner at Caitlin's inquest ruled the crash was caused by inexperience behind the wheel and agreed with Ms Huddleston for the graduated driving scheme to be introduced to protect inexperienced drivers and prevent future deaths.

Sharron said, "Caitlin is lying in a graveyard at the age of 18. She had her whole life ahead of her. The Government needs to treat road traffic collisions the same as gun or knife crime. Changes need to be made to protect our young people and stop any other family going through what we have."

Road safety charity Brake said new drivers with passengers of similar age were four times more likely to die at the wheel than if they drove alone because there would be an element of them "showing off and taking more risks".

This peer pressure was one reason young drivers were less likely to be involved in an accident when carrying older passengers.

One in five drivers crash within a year of getting their licence, while over 1,500 young drivers are killed or seriously injured in the UK each year, according to the charity.

Cumbria's PFCC David Allen will now write to all other Police and Crime Commissioners in England and wales asking them to support graduated driving lisences.

He said: "When you look at the poor conditions and terrible weather conditions we have in Cumbria, and actually our percentage of young people dying on our roads because of those things, and they pass their test one day, in a high powered vehicle the next with all of their mates, we get a higher proportion in rural areas of young people dying on our roads.

"That really shook me.

"It's a relatively minor change in our legislation, but we know will have a massive impact.

"All we're asking is that for the first 6 months you can't carry somebody under the age of 21. You can't carry someone and get distracted. It gives you time to learn.

"Mature into driving a car, and then you can drive your friends. It doesn't stop you driving by yourself or with somebody over 21. It does stop you driving a load of your mates and potentially killing yourself or someone else because you are inexperienced."