Mum of 17-year-old Harvey Owen from Shropshire killed in crash calls for change to driving licences

  • Crystal Owen spoke to ITV News Central about the pain of losing her son

The mother of a 17-year-old who died in a car crash in North Wales is campaigning for change to driving licences.

Harvey Owen was one of four students from Shrewsbury who drowned after the car they were travelling in lost control and ended upside down and submerged in water.

His mother Crystal Owen has spoken on the agony of losing her teenage son - and her wish for new graduated driving licences to be introduced.

She told ITV News: "My passion for everything has gone, my joy for everything is gone.

"So it's actually really hard to get back to life before Harvey".

"How do you sum up somebody that's just so perfect? Basically, he was absolutely, like, just the most lovable person you could ever meet.

Harvey Owen was one of four teenagers to die in a crash in Snowdonia along with Jevon Hirst, Harvey Owen, Wilf Fitchett and Hugo Morris. Credit: Family Handout

"He was, he's just absolutely beautiful person".

Ms Owen recalls to ITV News the panic that she was in the night that Harvey died.

"So after like, a night of no sleep, we sat off really early hours and just, I was just driving namelessly around Snowdon, you just don't know, absolute blind panic and, and then it hit me that the vastness of the place and and that's when, like, the panic started to kick in.

"But the whole time, I just kept thinking that they wondered off and they were lost. When I got to the police station and we found that they'd found a car in the ditch.

"And even then, I just kept thinking, you know, they would have wondered off, they'd be fine.

"And then it was some time until we were told and and then it was all just a blur from the number".

Ms Owen wants a new law for young drivers called a graduated licence.

She had started a petition to change the law around licences that had made it all the way to parliament.

But now there is a new government, so she has to start the petition all over again. All this while dealing with the death of her son and the ongoing inquest into his death in Wales.

What is a graduated licence?

Graduated licences are aimed at improving safety for young people on the roads. It could include:

  • Changes to driving for young and newly passed drivers at night.

  • Changes to the number of passengers for young drivers.

  • A minimum six-month learning period before the driving test can be taken.

  • A ban on intensive driving courses.

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