Driving 'too daunting', says sister of fatal crash victim

The sister of a teen who died successful a car clang is frightened to larn to thrust due to the fact that of what happened.

Callum Griffiths, 19, from Porth was killed successful a clang successful Coedely, Rhondda Cynon Taf, past December, alongside friends, Morgan Smith, 18 and Jesse Owen, 18.

Erin Griffiths, 16, tin get her provisional licence adjacent twelvemonth but said she already has anxiousness and is readying to enactment disconnected lessons.

“Since Callum, it is simply a batch much daunting to deliberation astir my friends successful a car oregon maine successful a car. It’s truly scary. You ne'er cognize what tin hap to you," she said.

Callum’s smiling look connected the partition is the archetypal happening you spot erstwhile you locomotion into the surviving country of his household home.

As the day of his decease approaches, this is intelligibly a household inactive trying to enactment retired however to unrecorded their lives without him.

“It conscionable gets harder,” says mum Natalie.

"Because the world of having to get up each time and unrecorded without Callum has truly acceptable in.

“How bash we get up each time knowing our lad isn’t here?”

The nighttime of the clang is inactive vivid successful Natalie’s mind.

There are memories of the household driving the 15-minute travel to the scene, aft receiving a telephone telephone from a person who lived nearby.

“She told maine the car was successful fractional and I conscionable retrieve praying, each the mode to Coedely," she said.

"Just praying 'let Callum beryllium OK - conscionable fto him beryllium OK'.”

Although they were told astatine the country Callum had died, Natalie said she did not instrumentality it successful until later.

“Our satellite conscionable crumbled,” she said.

“I bash consciousness erstwhile we mislaid Callum we mislaid a portion of ourselves - I americium not the idiosyncratic I utilized to be, my hubby is not the aforesaid person.

“There is simply a immense void that volition never, ever beryllium filled.”

Last month, an inquest into the 3 teenagers' deaths recovered that the car mislaid power and deed a autobus aft travelling astatine astir 50mph (80km/h) into a bend.

The household person not yet decided however they volition people the anniversary, but held a enactment for Callum, who would person turned 20 connected 2 November.

Siblings Erin and Callum were precise close, with Erin calling him her “best person and biggest protector".

The 16-year-old, conscionable 15 erstwhile her member died, said the enactment has been an important absorption and, she admits, a distraction.

“Instead of reasoning that Callum is not present for his birthday, we person this large celebration," she said.

Another absorption for Natalie has been arsenic a subordinate of a radical of grieving families, called Forget Me Not Families Uniting.

They are campaigning for changes to the instrumentality connected caller drivers.

A graduated driver’s licence could spot a bounds connected the fig of passengers young radical are allowed to carry, which is simply a “no brainer”, Natalie believes.

But past month, the UK authorities appeared to regularisation this out, saying it was not considering immoderate changes.

That is contempt a petition acceptable up by different mother whose lad died successful Wales, reaching astir 25,000 signatures.

“It’s precise frustrating,” said Natalie.

“And much truthful knowing I person got a kid who is coming up to driving age, who is present enactment disconnected from wanting to larn to thrust due to the fact that she is truthful alert of the dangers.”

Erin said her friends enactment the projected changes and she hopes the tragic circumstances of her brother’s decease volition marque radical thrust much cautiously.

“We ne'er expected this to hap to Callum, you ne'er cognize who it is going to hap to - it is ever playing connected my mind," she said.

To those who accidental immoderate changes could impinge the freedoms of young people, Natalie has a elemental and nonstop answer.

She said: "The biggest bounds of each has been placed connected Callum due to the fact that helium has nary beingness to unrecorded immoderate longer.

“The top bequest we tin permission for Callum is to effort and marque immoderate change. “