Campaigners are calling for those who upload dangerous driving videos to be stripped of their licences, to prevent further bloodshed. While those found guilty of a drink-driving offence automatically lose their licence, no such legislation is in place to tackle an alarming online trend.
As seen by the Mirror, young people are turning to social media platforms such as TikTok to share content of themselves risking their lives on the road in the name of likes. Some clips show youngsters going 'ghost mode', speeding along narrow, winding country lanes with their lights off. Others partake in wrong way motorway driving stunts.
Fatal Crashes Linked to Trend
This is a deadly trend that cannot be normalised and, as seen in recent weeks, the effects of reckless driving, whether filmed or not, can be catastrophic. In the early hours of Saturday, August 22, two police officers, PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, died following a collision near Middlesbrough, Teesside.
A Volkswagen Passat travelling the wrong way on the A66 dual carriageway collided head-on with the police vehicle that had been assisting in a search for the car. All five occupants of the Passat - Michael Robert Cahill, 23, Theo Rae, 17, Cole Robert Worthy, 17, Jakub Matusiak, 23, and Makai Saddington, 18 - died instantly. It quickly emerged that a TikTok profile believed to belong to Saddington frequently featured footage which glorified dangerous driving. One video, deleted shortly after the crash along with the account, appeared to show Saddington in a high-speed police chase alongside four other youngsters.
Another Wrong-Way Tragedy
This tragedy came days after another wrong-way motorway crash in County Kildare, Ireland. Five teenagers - Jeremy O'Brien, 18, Alex McCarthy, 17, Joey Carthy, 15, Jack Kennedy, 17, and Kamil Pustkowski, 17 - died when their BMW, travelling the wrong way down the M9 motorway at more than 74mph, crashed head-on into a Hyundai.
The Hyundai had been carrying three sisters, Ella, Niamh, and Alma Kinsella, in their 20s and 30s, and a seven-year-old boy, all of whom were driving to Dublin Airport for a family wedding. The five teenagers were killed at the scene, while the three sisters sustained severe injuries. The young boy suffered a broken leg.
Government Demands Action
It's an issue that has sparked concern for some time. In December 2022, newly qualified driver Liberty Mitchell recorded Snapchat videos of herself speeding at almost 100mph in a 60mph zone. Overtaking three vehicles on the wrong side of the road near Aldsworth, Gloucestershire, the then-18-year-old lost control of her Mini Cooper and caused a multi-car pile-up, killing taxi driver Octavian Codreanu and his passenger, teacher Moyra Whelan.
This week, the Government has demanded that social media companies remove any content which shows people driving dangerously. Speaking with reporters during a visit to Kyiv on Monday (August 24), Prime Minister Andy Burnham stated: “Anybody who glorifies dangerous driving is doing something that’s truly reprehensible.”
