Concerns raised about ‘young, new’ drivers after teenagers killed in North Wales crash

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A coroner has raised concerns about young, newly-qualified drivers carrying passengers following an inquest into the deaths of four teenagers in North Wales.

Hugo Morris, 18, Harvey Owen, 17, Wilf Fitchett, 17, and Jevon Hirst, 16, all from Shrewsbury, died when their car left a rural road while they were on a camping trip in November last year.

The car flipped onto its roof in a flooded ditch, leaving them trapped. An inquest into the deaths of the four teenagers was held in Caernarfon on Wednesday (16 October).

The crashed car could not be seen from the road and led to a two day search to find the boys.

The bodies of the four teenagers, all from the Shropshire area, were found following a multi-agency search on Tuesday 21 November.

They were found in an overturned, partially submerged car ^[1] after last being seen in the Porthmadog and Harlech areas of Gwynedd on the morning of Sunday, 19 November.

From left to right: Hugo Morris, Wilf Fitchett, Jevon Hirst and Harvey Owen Credit: North Wales Police

They had been travelling on the A485 near in Garreg, Llanfrothen, when, according to expert testimony, the Ford Fiesta in which they were travelling took a near 90-degree bend too quickly.

Police crash expert Ian Thompson told the inquest that the car, driven by Hugo Morris, was fundamentally mechanically sound, despite its rear tires being under-inflated.

The road on which they were travelling had a national speed limit of 60mph, however, Mr Thompson told the inquest that the safe speed at which to take the bend would have been around 26mph.

He said it had been raining heavily on the day of the crash and water levels in a nearby river had risen by one metre over two days, with water in the ditch at the side of the road usually rising at a similar level.

He said that Mr Morris, described by his family as having a "thirst for life", had approached the bend and too high a speed and that the crash was "avoidable."

The inquest heard that he had passed his driving test just more than six months before and "wanted an adventure with his friends".

An inquest into the deaths of the four teenagers was held in Caernarfon Credit: ITV Cymru Wales

Dr Anton van Dellen, representing the family of Harvey, whose mother Crystal has campaigned for graduated driving licences for new drivers, said the coroner should consider making a report for the prevention of future deaths.

"One of the features of this case is that there were three children travelling with the driver on a road in North Wales, presumably heading to a place of recreation," he said.

"That's a scenario which in my opinion is very likely to reoccur in the future."

Wilf's mother Heather Sanderson said: "We gave Wilf permission to go because we believed that the driver had passed his driving test, which he had, and we were more than happy.

"We had done our research and I think we would make the decision again, not knowing the outcome. I don't think our decision was flawed."

Senior coroner for north west Wales Kate Robertson said she would write to the Department for Transport and the DVLA to raise concerns that deaths could continue to occur where "young, newly-qualified drivers are permitted to carry passengers".

Recording a conclusion of road traffic collision, the coroner said: "I find that all four young men would have died very soon following the collision, given the post-mortem findings and that they died by drowning."

She added that the signage in the area would not have given adequate warning of the upcoming bend.

The court heard extra signage and chevrons had been put in place following the collision but a broken fence, which had apparently been damaged in an earlier crash, had still not been replaced and was on land not owned by the council.

The coroner also said she would issue a report for the prevention of future deaths concerning fencing or a safety barrier in the area, and asked Gwynedd Council to provide details of the landowner.

Mrs Sanderson said she thought if the fence had been in better condition, it could have made a difference.

Post-mortem evidence showed none of the teenagers had significant injuries but examinations of their lungs showed features of drowning.

References

^{^} They were found in an overturned, partially submerged car (www.itv.com)