Consett family’s road safety campaign raised in Parliament
John and Karen Rowlands, from Consett, have campaigned for tougher rules on private car sales and road safety reforms since the death of their 18-year-old son Andrew.
Their efforts were highlighted during a House of Commons debate on February 5 by Liz Twist, MP for Blaydon and Consett, who welcomed the Governmentβs new road safety strategy.
Ms Twist said: “I want to speak briefly about one particular aspect of road safety that was raised with me by my constituents, John and Karen Rowlands, who lost their son Andrew in a road collision in 2020.
“The driver of the car was underage, uninsured and unlicensed.
“Sadly, that situation is all too common, and families are left to pick up the pieces, while dealing with unimaginable grief, due to the fact that the laws of our roads, and those affecting vehicles, have not kept up with changing times.”
Andrew was a passenger in a car that had no MOT and was bought privately for Β£100 the day before the crash.
The driver, 17-year-old Dylan Brunton, was unlicensed and had not had a single driving lesson at the time of the crash.
He was sentenced in 2021 to 32 months in a young offenders’ institute and received a driving ban of three years and four months.
Mr Rowlands previously told The Northern Echo there were positive elements in the new road strategy but said important areas were still missing.
He said: “These things are a bit of a wish list.
“You know what, there are a lot of positives in the new strategy.
“However, there are a couple of things that either are not quite right or missing off that wish list.
“There is work to be done.”
Ms Twist supported calls for greater regulation of online car sales, warning that unlicensed individuals can too easily purchase vehicles without proper checks.
She said online car sales are linked to crime, allow unsafe vehicles to remain in circulation, and enable people who do not have a licence to purchase and use cars on our roads.
Ms Twist said tougher action against unlicensed and uninsured drivers would be a step in the right direction, but that car ownership rules need to be strengthened.
She also suggested that residents should have more opportunities to raise road safety concerns in their communities and that their views should be more meaningfully included in policy decisions.
Closing the debate, roads minister Lilian Greenwood said: “Although the Government are leading the charge, this will be a collective effort in partnership with local authorities, the industry, the emergency services, communities and the devolved administrations.
“I assure everyone in this House that action is beginning now to make our roads safer, as we put the commitments in the strategy into place.
“I will chair a new road safety board that will be set up in the coming months to support and monitor the commitments, and we will announce further details of its membership and other arrangements in due course.”