Crash teen's mum backs call for new driver licence

Aaron Bell was killed in a car crash at the age of 18

The mother of a young man killed in a car crash has joined calls for a new type of licence for those under 21 to help tackle young driving deaths.

Aaron Bell, 18, died alongside two friends, aged 17 and 18, when driver Joshua Chapman lost control of the car they were travelling in on 29 July 2022.

His mother, Nicole Bell-Percy, is backing the AA’s campaign to introduce a graduated driving licence, which would bar new drivers aged under 21 from carrying passengers of a similar age for six months.

She said: "Nobody wants a knock on the door and a police officer standing there saying, ‘I’m really sorry, but your son has been killed’. I don’t want anybody else to have to hear that."

Mrs Bell-Percy said: “There’s evidence out there from other countries that show that by bringing in restrictions you can save lives.

"It frustrates and hurts me for all the young children that have lost their lives. It is wrong that the government aren’t listening.

“We’re not just bereaved mums looking for comfort. This is about us trying to save other people’s lives, as it could affect anybody.”

Nicole Bell-Percy said she wants to protect other families from losing loved ones

The AA said the proposal for a particular type of licence targeted at new, young drivers has the potential to prevent 934 serious injuries and save 58 lives on UK roads each year.

Similar measures already exist in Northern Ireland. The Department for Transport has said it is not currently considering the measures for elsewhere in the UK.

In March, Chapman - who was 18 at the time of the crash - was jailed for nine years and four months, after admitting causing the deaths of the three teenagers.

Investigators found the car he was driving had been travelling at excessive speed as it negotiated bends before it then left the road and hit a tree.

Ms Bell-Percy said the mental toll had been “very hard” since her son's death.

“It’s been pretty tough since we lost Aaron as your world has been broken into I don’t know how many pieces. There’s many days you don’t want to get out of bed," she said.

“I find going out hard, you shut yourself away just to cope, the mental strain is very hard and I want to spare other people from this.”

Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.