How can reckless teenage driving be prevented?

[UncleColm]

We had that terrible crash recently in the UK which resulted in 7 deaths - RIP to the two Police Officers who were on duty.

In Ireland we had a very similar crash the previous week where five boys died - aged 15 to 17. All were wearing balaclavas at the time of the crash and were 'well known' to Guards. The family they crashed into were three sisters and a seven year old son of one of the sisters (on the way to the airport go to a family wedding) - they are all still in hospital and are very seriously injured.

The previous week, in Ireland, a car carrying eight teenage boys aged from as young as 13 crashed into a car being driven in the correct direction by one young man who is now seriously injured.

The boys seem to be from a mix of poor areas and Travellers. In death they are being celebrated by their families but where were these families when they were alive? Who lets their teenage boy out all night? And let's them produce tiktoks of their 'exploits'? Parental supervision is clearly not in place.

How can this reckless driving behaviour be stopped?

In Ireland there is a huge shortage of jail spaces and places to detain a child under 18. These kids couldn't care less if the Guards catch them - sure what's another Juvenile Caution to them? One of the boys who died was supposed to stay in his own County but had ignored it. They have no fear of the Guards or the law.

I work in a school and there is a huge amount of help available to Traveller children in particular but they still tend to not engage with any after school activities, don't do homework, don't go on school trips, leave school early, high absence rate, etc.

I read recently that, in Ireland, 50% of Travellers don't live beyond 39. In 2026 this a shocking statistic. I don't know what the statistics are for the poor, disadvantaged areas but I do know that the taxpayers provide Social Housing, child benefit, medical cards, free education, free school books and hot lunches, back to school allowances and a whole other host of allowances. There are many initiatives available to help people to stay in education and gain independence.

What more can be done? Is there any way of reaching these young males?

Equally I knew some lads like this when I was at school and I don’t think it’s as simple as bad parenting for all cases.

One boy ended up in prison for stabbing his neighbour and he seemed to have no impulse control at all. It didn’t matter if teachers said “if you do x y will happen” he would do it anyway and then complain about his punishment.

Even as 11/12 year olds we could all sense that something was not right with him.

Its not always the parents but even when it is, it’s likely some deep inherited dysfunction that’s hard to unpack.

I was discussing this earlier with some parent friends - we are all in our 40’s.

I said if my ds did something like that he’d be having a direct cremation and I’d likely leave the area if not the country in shame having raised someone who thought this behaviour was ok.

Not posting on SM about balloon releases in his memory and about him being an angel, or having a funeral with large photos and pillars outside the church.

But I think the families reactions indicate the deep seated issues that have created these situations.

We see all the time “teens do these things “

we once managed to quell other socially negative stereotypes and I think we need to quell this one.

Thank you so much for taking the time to share this. You sound like a lovely adult that young people nowadays exactly need, given that you teach as well, your students are lucky to have you.

the fact that people go to prison for reckless driving didn’t put these kids off did it?

I don't think this is true of teenagers in general. Some, certainly. And there is definitely an element of balaclava wearing yobs riding fast motorised bikes on the cycle lanes in my town, I suspect they are dealing/county lines involvement.

But most teenagers are lovely. Kind and thoughtful, interesting to talk to.

And yet here you are, on social media, engaging with it and everything. On a site where it is abundantly clear money is the main driver and the active feed is manipulated to serve up the most goady posts, which inevitably lead to more engagement.

What kind of “strength” do you want the country to display?

I honestly think this is awful parenting/ an awful attitude:

“I’d likely leave the area if not the country in shame having raised someone who thought this behaviour was ok”

shame is not a noble emotion. It’s highly damaging.

Not UK.We had a huge problem until recently. It's still an issue, but not anywhere near as bad.

We have strict restrictions. Provisional drivers licences for 3 years. Lower demerit points allowances, curfews, passenger limits, especially ages (except immediate family), limits on power, and if you hoon you lose your car for a period of time & too many times and it's forfeited (even if it's a parent's car). Huge fines.

We're also seeing reductions in teen car crime as the law has changed to charge them as adults. Before, there was no consequences and car theft was rife. I used to see at least two ripping along with 14 year olds behind the wheel on my suburban early morning walk, now I see none. It's still there and we'll never get rid of it, but restrictions & consequences, like jail, have deterrent the less determined.

Black boxes (for everyone).
Dash cams

And a collosal amount of money put into traffic police, number plate recognition cameras and cracking down on ghost number plates and fake MOT's.

I think the Government has to take charge with this as parents cannot always, despite often trying the best they can. There’s a limit to how much you can tell a 17 year old to do or not do. I have a 17 year old DS and I can’t control what he puts on Tik Tok or who he gets in a car with or what that driver does. The government need to bring in strict laws around young drivers, particularly young males who have recently passed their driving test.

Interesting developments on the BBC website. One of the 5 had previous for assaulting police officer. Plus the police have arrested 12 others in connection with the crash.

Sounds like you just want the situation to continue?

There is no situation. It’s an isolated in incident. The statistics show that

A move to self driving cars only would solve this.

But in the meantime, let’s make parents accountable for the actions of their children up until they’re 21. These people weren’t studious kids who woke up and stole a car and killed people. We haven’t lost a cure for cancer here - these are scrotes who will never contribute to society as they’ve had no values instilled in them. Parenting should be taken much more seriously.

But at the end of the day, this was probably the fault of a 23 year old man and there’s not
much you can do at that point with our justice system - they’re allowed to get away with crime after crime until it escalates. It doesn’t even have anything to do with driving.

Several viral TikTok crazes have caused severe physical harm, property damage, or legal trouble. The platform has repeatedly hosted dangerous physical stunts, toxic ingestions, and destructive pranks that put participants and innocent people at risk.

I wonder about you and your age maturity if you think this is Ok and it bears no comparison to typing on a parenting forum.

You think what ThickTok promotes is ok do you?
Are you ok if one of the stunts they promote kills YOU or your family?

Would the owners of the sites that promote dangerous stunts and people being killed be happy for their children to see these things?

Of course there is a lot more that can be done. We need a Zero tolerance to idiots who want to film harmful and illegal stunts.

Facebook have just been in court, so it is possible.

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A limit on the engine size for a few years after passing their test. No new driver needs to drive a big powerful car. And a ban on carrying multiple passengers for at yeast a year after getting a license.

I'm sure it won't go down well, but sterilize criminals---and also the scrotes that produce them. It might make parents a bit more responsible and their offspring won't be producing yet another generation of low-lifes. Yes, it's eugenics, but those who shit on the idea of being part of a civilized society should face horrible consequences

One of them was 23, I’m not sure how you’d manage that tbh. At 23 quite honestly he was an idiot on the road and knew the risks he was taking.
for new drivers it should be no passengers for a year, then limited numbers but again at 23 he could’ve had a licence for six year by then.

there are some people in this world who are just idiots and their behaviour sadly impacts many others

There is a difference between reckless teen driving and a violent criminal gang committing various serious offences, as this group were, according to the BBC.

You have misunderstood or misinterpreted my views.

Criminal underclass is anyone that is a criminal - it isn’t linked to class as you are suggesting.

I will ‘look down my nose’ at all criminals though. They do not deserve any respect.

The rate of joyriding is at a historical low at the moment, no need for a draconian response or something to affect all law abiding young drivers.

Just target those who continue to break the law.

I think it’s really complex.

Changes to the law won’t make any difference to those who don’t respect the law.

It is far more nuanced than just changing the law. There will be hundreds of factors that have impacted these boys/men since birth - poor parenting, lack of boundaries, poverty, repeating generational cycles. One of the men involved in the Ireland crash was under the care of Tusla, and two others were known to them. They were fucked from the moment they were born. Add to that social media and the constant need for likes and validation.

None of that means my sympathies lie anywhere other than with the families of the innocent victims in the two incidents. I don’t know what the answer is I really don’t.

I have just read that several people, men and women, have been arrested in connection with events leading to the A66 crash.

I'm willing to be proven wrong but I'd bet money that this wasn't the first time the driver had an encounter with the police.

Re SM and TikTok it probably is a factor, doing stupid stuff for content has become more attractive. First up limit the impact on innocent citizens who are not doing this.

Not sure how, but the very sad part is when other people lose family members due to the antics of some.

This case is a hard one as it is so extreme, but if the UK wanted to cut collision deaths it could. There isn’t a silver bullet but there are lots of things that would help.

1. Adopting the Vision Zero approach to road design, which has reduced fatalities elsewhere by reducing conflict between road users. I don’t know if this would stop drivers been able to drive the wrong way down motorways, but I’ve definitely seen motorways in the Netherlands that have been designed to stop people doing a last minute change of lane (when you have to choose which direction you want to go in) by putting bollards between the lanes.
2. Changing attitudes towards driving offences - there was really interesting research recently about victims of driving offences feeling as if this is not seen as a proper crime even when there are fatal or otherwise horrific consequences. As said earlier, offenders aren’t always youths - where I live we have a real problem with speeding often by people rushing to work. Mobile phone use is another one. I had an awful experience cycling with DS some years back where a middle-aged woman was driving down my street on her phone. I really doubt that that woman sees herself as a criminal in the same way that the rush hour speeders probably do not - except that they are & have just been lucky that they have avoided collisions so far. This also comes through in the crime reports when there are always excuses of poor mental health / family problems / needing the car for work or to drive DC & the use of those excuses needs to be looked at. I would also support longer driving bans & compulsory Bikeability for offenders. The media also need to start following the reporting guidelines on collisions so that collisions are reported in a more neutral manner.
3. Challenging the narrative that drivers are victims - I can think of a few local streets where the driving has been so bad that eventually the council has just stopped through traffic. My council tends to put this off for as long as possible but eventually they have to face up to the dangerous driving (eg speeding; tailgating; ignoring road signs) & shut the road to cars. Despite this there’s an endless narrative on local social media that this is the fault of the “clowncil” or “the cyclists” or “the residents” - anyone except the drivers who were actually at fault. Councils could also be a lot less squeamish about cutting through access - it’s something I definitely remember happening in the 90s when there was the trouble with joyriding.
4. Stronger political leadership on road safety - both older & young drivers have been mentioned on this thread & they are two other issues that the Government needs to deal urgently with due to some horrible collisions. Electric motorbikes (“e-bikes”) is another one - there’s a report from the All-Party Parliamentary Walking & Cycling group that has made lots of recommendations on this that could be adopted. (That said, I do think that both Heidi Alexander & Louise Haigh have been an improvement on some previous ministers).
5. More road police too and standardising best practice across forces.