Campaigner says road safety education 'is not enough' in Shropshire
Crystal Owen's son Harvey was killed in a car crash at 17
A Shrewsbury road safety campaigner said education is not enough to keep children safe on the roads in Shropshire.
Crystal Owen lost her son Harvey when he was killed in a car crash at 17.
Crystal's story:
Ever since her son's death, Crystal has been campaigning for the law to be changed to limit new drivers.
It is called a 'Graduated Driving Licence' and is used in various countries worldwide to keep drivers safe.
Restrictions that come with the licence can include curfews and limits on the number of passengers.
What is 'MORSE Youth' project?
This comes as a driver safety training scheme for West Mercia has started taking on under-18s in the hope of tackling dangerous driving.
The scheme is known as MORSE, which stands for 'Make Our Roads Safer for Everyone'.
It offers 1-1 support for people who have committed driving-related offences such as drink-driving or driving without a licence.
Now, MORSE has a youth scheme which will pilot a group of 13-17-year-olds on the training course.
"Education and a law change need to go hand-in-hand"
Crystal Owen said she welcomes the scheme, but not on it's own:
"Education and a law change need to go hand-in-hand. I have worked with children and once they get into their teenage years education goes out the window.
"I do think road safety should always be a part of education. However, as soon as your child learns to drive, all that matters is their friendships and peer pressure plays a huge part.
"Harvey was sensible but he was also a teenager that thought he was invincible. That is why he went to Snowdonia with his friends in the middle of winter," she said.
"Our aim is to improve road safety across West Mercia"
A spokesperson from Youth Support Services who run the MORSE project said: " We welcome any law changes that will improve road safety.
"The MORSE Youth project is focused on working with a very specific cohort of children and young people that have committed serious driving offences.
"Our aim is to reduce reoffending in the long term, in order to improve road safety across West Mercia.