Parents of crash victim Liam Hawley make plea to new drivers

Sep 4 2010 by Ruth Lawson, The Journal

THE family of a teenager killed in a drink-fuelled car crash have made a moving plea to other young drivers to think before they get behind the wheel.

Andrew and Julie Hawley, of The Pastures, Morpeth, Northumberland, want to use the death of their only son, Liam, as an example to all teenage drivers who think they are invincible on the roads.

The 19-year-old died last November in a car driven dangerously by close friend, Daniel Hume, 20, who was last week sentenced to five years in a young offenders’ institution for causing death by dangerous driving. He was over the alcohol limit and uninsured.

Now the heartbroken couple have spoken for the first time about the loss of their “easygoing and laid-back” son.

Mum Julie, 42, said: “Young drivers, they just pass their test and they think that’s it, they can drive. But it’s not actually until something happens when they realise they haven’t got any control whatsoever and it results in a death.

“If only they would stop and think about what they are doing. It’s not just their own parents they will hurt, it’s other people’s parents. If they just stopped and thought, even for a few minutes, of the consequences that it has on everybody’s lives.”

Liam’s life was tragically taken in the early hours of November 26 after a night out with friends. He and two other friends got into a car driven by Hume – who had downed vodka, lager, and cheap bottled lager. Ignoring his passengers’ pleas to slow down, Hume zig-zagged the Renault Megane wildly across a country road, playing ‘chicken’ with the kerbs.

Eventually the car struck a verge, spun out of control and ploughed sideways into a large tree at Whorral Bank, Morpeth. Liam was rushed to hospital but died soon after.