Youngsters 'need the courage to leave badly-driven cars'

Date: 12/8/2010

A mother who lost her son in a car accident has told youngsters to speak up if they don't feel safe.

Angela Smith is supporting the Deadly Mates road safety campaign after her 16-year-old boy Kyle was killed in a collision in Cardiff in 2005.

She spoke out at the launch of an initiative by the organisation to distribute posters and leaflets at McDonald's restaurants in Wales.

"Young people need to have the courage to get out of a car if they think the driver isn't good enough and not up to it. A lot of these deaths can be avoided," Ms Smith told the BBC.

Kyle had visited a McDonald's not long before his accident, she added, so perhaps if the driver of the car had been given a flyer the incident could have been avoided.

According to Deadly Mates, car accidents take 1,000 young lives every year and one in three collisions involve men under the age of 20.

Posted by Sarah Bailey