Car park reforms put forward in memory of Liverpool schoolboy 'who died too soon'
The dad of a 15-year-old who died after falling from a multi-storey car park in Liverpool hopes new reforms will ensure his son’s death was not in vain.
Schoolboy Gabriel Santer, died in October 2022 after falling from a multi-storey car park in Liverpool City Centre.
Described as “a fine young lad with so much promise who died too soon”, a new safety reform has been proposed in his memory.
“Gabe’s Law” aims to “substantially” increase the legal minimum height of barriers on top of car parks and also require such sites to be staffed 24 hours a day.
Maria Eagle, the Labour MP for Garston and Halewood, proposed the idea and told the House of Commons, “Gabe’s father, my constituent Jonny Santer, is determined to ensure that Gabe’s death will not be in vain.”
She said: “He wants to make sure that no other person finds it so shockingly easily possible to fall or to jump from an open-roofed multi-storey car park.
“I want to help him achieve that aim.”
Newspaper reports, according to Ms Eagle, showed there were at least 17 deaths related to falling from multi-storey car parks in 2022.
She added that it was unclear how many deaths had gone unreported.
Ms Eagle said Q-Park operates the site where Gabriel fell to his death.
She said: “It seems clear that the legal minimum height must be increased and a requirement to retrofit existing car parks be included if Q-Park is to take these safety concerns seriously and finally increase the height of their barriers.
“And having car park staff can only increase safety levels.
“So if Mr Santer is to achieve his goal of ensuring that Gabriel did not die in vain and that some good can come out of this terrible tragedy, then the law must be changed and it’s for us to do it.”
Continuing her proposal, she said: “I think it’d be appropriate, should I receive permission to introduce such a Bill and the Bill receives royal assent, to refer to it as ‘Gabe’s Law’.
“He was a fine young lad with so much promise who died too soon and so needlessly.”
The MP asked for her Bill to receive a second reading on March 17.
Q-Park has been approached for comment.