Cheshire mum shares road safety message after teenage son's death

Mrs Abbey lost her son in a collision in Warrington in July 2021

A mother whose teenage son died in a motorcycle crash is campaigning to "stop young people dying on our roads".

Beverley Abbey's 19-year-old son Harry died when he was involved in a collision with a combine harvester in Warrington on 21 July 2021.

An inquest found he had traces of cannabis in his system but was driving at a safe speed of between 23 and 26 miles per hour.

Mrs Abbey has now backed a road safety education campaign.

The grieving mum has donated the Yamaha motorcycle Harry was riding at the time of the accident to Cheshire Police to be used in safety talks.

The bike, which has only minimal damage despite being involved in a fatal crash, will be taken to schools and colleges across Cheshire to show young people the importance of road safety.

'I miss him'

Mrs Abbey hopes that sharing Harry's story will help young people understand the impact of losing someone to a road traffic accident has on loved ones.

"I miss him every day. There's not a day that he's not in my mind," she said.

"Listening to me, I hope that they can see the impact that it's had on my life and our family's life.

"The fact that Harry was only travelling at between 23 and 26 miles per hour makes it even more difficult to comprehend."

The Yamaha bike Harry was riding has been donated to Cheshire Police

According to the force, 24 people died in road traffic accidents in the county last year.

Nationally, there were 1,695 fatalities resulting from road collisions in 2022, based on provisional data supplied by police forces across the UK. Of those, motorcyclists accounted for 354 road deaths.

About 55% of people killed on a motorbike in 2021 and 2022 were between 17 and 26 years old, Cheshire Police said.

'Needlessly killed'

Mrs Abbey said it was "emotionally draining" to share her son's story but important to do so.

She added: "My one reason for doing this is to stop young people dying on our roads like Harry did that day and my feelings of being uncomfortable and emotionally exhausted are a small price to pay to get that message across."

PC Darren Daniels said: "We want young people to understand that they are not invincible, and their life matters.

"It matters to those who are left behind dealing with the consequences and I hope that by Bev bravely sharing Harry's story we can make a real difference and help to reduce the number of young people who are needlessly killed on the county's roads."