Calls for law change after two teens die in crash

A mother whose son died in a crash while giving five friends a lift home from a pub is calling for a change in the law for inexperienced drivers.

Joe Walsh, 19, and Toby Barraclough, 18, were both killed when the car Joe was driving hit a stone wall in Shelf, near Halifax, after the group had been drinking at the nearby Shoulder of Mutton in October 2023.

An inquest into their deaths at Bradford Coroner’s Court last month heard that Joe was believed to have drunk four or five pints of lager and had taken cocaine.

Both senior coroner Martin Fleming and Joe’s mother Lisa Wright want the Department for Transport to restrict the number of passengers new drivers can carry.

Apprentice bricklayer Joe had only passed his test five months before the collision.

“My heart just broke,” Ms Wright said at her home in Queensbury, Bradford, describing the moment she found out about the crash.

“My whole world fell apart.”

Referring to “graduated” licensing for newly qualified drivers, she said: “I think only good can come out of it.

“If it saves lives, it’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

Melanie Meleshko, whose son Charlie was one of the passengers who survived the crash, said: “They just all piled in the car thinking that it was OK, they were only driving five minutes down the road.

“They just didn’t think about the consequences at that point.

“If they hadn’t been allowed to get in the car then things would have been different.”

Mr Fleming issued a Prevention of Future Deaths report after the inquests and wrote: “Currently there are no legal restrictions upon the licences of young or newly qualified drivers.

“Young drivers may be more likely to be involved in a collision. I am concerned that there will be further tragic deaths.”

The Department for Transport said it does not have any plans to change the system.

A spokesperson said: “Every death on our roads is a tragedy and our thoughts remain with the families of everyone who has lost a loved one in this way.

“Whilst we are not considering Graduated Driving Licences, we absolutely recognise that young people are disproportionately victims of tragic incidents on our roads, and we are considering other measures to tackle this problem and protect young drivers.”

In countries where graduated licences exist, such as Australia, Germany and New Zealand, there are restrictions on carrying passengers at night, zero alcohol limits and probationary periods.

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