A woman is calling for the speed limit on a County Durham road to be lowered following the death of her sister. Abbie Devanney was marking her birthday on October 25, 2023, enjoying a night out in Consett, County Durham with friends, when 17-year-old Charlie Whittaker picked them up to take them to Newcastle.
Whittaker, now 19, made a detour to collect a jacket from his home and was travelling at an estimated 69mph along a dark, rural road when he took a corner and struck a puddle left by an earlier storm, Teesside Crown Court heard. The vehicle aquaplaned and left the road, colliding with a tree, with the front passenger door torn off during the impact.
Sister launches petition for speed limit change
Abbie, who was seated directly behind the front passenger seat, died instantly. Whittaker was jailed for five years and four months after pleading guilty to causing death and serious injury by dangerous driving. He was further disqualified from driving for seven years and eight months.
Abbie's younger sister Amy was just 15 years old when police officers arrived at her home to deliver the heartbreaking news of Abbie's death. Amy has now launched a petition calling for a change in the speed limit on Brooms Lane in Consett from 60mph to 30mph.
In it, she says: "We do not feel as though we have received justice as a family. Nothing will ever bring my sister back. She lost the chance to have a future, to grow old and to achieve her goals. I have not only lost my sister, I have lost my best friend, my Maid of Honour, the Auntie to my future children and the ability to make memories with her."
Campaign to raise awareness of dangerous driving
She then adds: "I am determined to make a change, to celebrate Abbie’s life and to save innocent lives like hers so I have decided to start this petition to change the speed limit on this road. The current speed limit is 60mph, and my goal is to have it changed to 30mph. The conditions of this road are poor, and are massively affected by the weather. It has a tendency to flood, and therefore does not have an appropriate speed limit. Hopefully this change will reduce the risk of more collisions. There have been multiple accidents on Brooms Lane over the years, and I believe also various lives lost, including my sister’s. Help me to make a change and keep our roads safe! How many more lives have to be lost before we take action?"
Dashcam footage of Whittaker alongside bodycam footage recorded by officers at the scene has been released as part of a documentary produced by Durham Constabulary. Amy is campaigning to raise awareness of dangerous driving, and hopes in future to deliver talks in primary schools alongside police about Abbie - as well as petitioning for the speed limit on the road where the crash occurred to be lowered.
Amy, a waitress, says: "Honestly to this point I've still not processed it. I remember once the police left my grandparents came over and it was late, like 2am, and me and my dad went on a walk. It was a weird feeling, a need to get out. I just remember the next week just existing, nothing felt real.
Remembering Abbie and seeking justice
"I think it's so weird you wake up and it's like someone is kicking you in the stomach. I slept in my mum's room for so long as mine and my sister's rooms were so close together. I don't think I went back into my room until a week afterwards. It really affected us. We were so frightened something else would happen, we wouldn't leave each other's sides".
Amy recalls how Abbie had her hair styled into pin curls on the morning of her birthday, before the pair spent a few hours together that afternoon. "I was going to a party that night for a friend's birthday," Amy told Talk to the Press. "She was helping me do my hair. My hair is really curly and she's the only one who could style it for me. We took photos to capture the moment and then she'd went out and I went to the party. I remember when I was at the party I really didn't feel like I wanted to be there, which was not normal for me".
Departing the party early at approximately 10pm, Amy arrived home to discover her parents "acting weird" as they had received an alert on their phones informing them that Abbie had been involved in a car accident. Moments later, there was a knock at the front door. "My dad always calls my mum Suzie," Amy says. "He shouted down the stairs, 'Suzanne', and that's when I thought something really must be up. Eventually I got to the front door and there were two policemen - and I was kind of just really confused as nothing like this had ever happened to me. I asked my mum 'what's happened' and she just kept saying 'Abbie, Abbie, Abbie'."
On 16 April 2025, Charlie Whittaker was sentenced, with Amy reading out a victim impact statement at Teesside Crown Court. "I owed it to myself and to Abbie to show him in person about losing Abbie and how much this has affected us, what he had taken from us and from her," Amy says. "I think the sentence was quite poor in my opinion. Across a lot of cases of dangerous driving and death by dangerous driving or serious injury the sentence is not in accordance with the crime. Unfortunately, because of his age he'll only be serving two years maximum of his sentence. He'll be out pretty soon. It's an insult - two years for taking an entire life. I don't believe he is being punished accordingly, that's what I've found most difficult".
Using social media and school talks to educate
Amy is now doing everything in her power to keep raising awareness following Abbie's death, and recently participated in a documentary which saw bodycam footage from the crash scene released to the public. "I think it was obviously devastating to see but I can see the effect it's had on people and I think that's what we need to do," Amy says. "People are desensitised to it and showing this horrific footage, people can't ignore it. It's there, they're there watching it, and it humanises it a little bit more. I hope people can watch that and it deters them and stops them from speeding or dangerous driving and that they'll think more. I think I have two paths I can go through with something like this. I can choose for it to ruin the rest of my life and sit with it, or choose to make something good out of it. I think literally as soon as I processed the initial shock I didn't know how to deal with the huge emotions that come with loss. She was the first person I had lost and I'd known her my entire life. My life changed overnight and by spreading awareness it's my way or regaining control over my life. What happened was in nobody's control. It already took her life – I'm not going to let it ruin and take mine too. I've witnessed the devastating pain it causes and if I can prevent anyone being in the same situation as well, it will help me. There is a rapidly increasing culture of racing, especially recently coming about on social media and all sorts."
"I think obviously I'm going to university so I'm going to take a little step back but I'm definitely using my social media platforms to educate people and show people, and tell Abbie's story. One of my posts on social media reached millions of people – it's amazing. There's a woman I work with at Durham Constabulary and we're planning on going around schools, showing the documentary and talking a little bit. If someone hears first-hand what happened to Abbie, they might think twice before driving dangerously. It's about getting to young people so it impacts the way they are driving when they're older".
