A car is a lethal weapon in the wrong hands; Your Life daily CAMPAIGN: Dad tells of the anguish of losing his son in a road smash and why he is backing a new safe-driving initiative in the region IT'S a rite of passage most teenagers aspire to.

Byline: KAREN HAMBRIDGE reports.

Your Life daily CAMPAIGN: Dad tells of the anguish of losing his son in a road smash and why he is backing a new safe-driving initiative in the region IT'S a rite of passage most teenagers aspire to. Passing their driving test and getting out and about on the roads. But over-confidence and youthful bravado behind the wheel can be a dangerous combination. Now a new scheme aims to educate young drivers and help cut the tragic toll of injury and death.

YEARS have passed but the pain remains for Paul Kerr. His son, Jon-Paul was just 17 when he died in a road crash with his schoolpal at the wheel.

The driver was a novice - he had passed his test 11 weeks previously.

Since the event in May 1992 Paul has campaigned for better education for new drivers, so that other families can be spared the horror of his ordeal.

Now he is backing a new Coventry and Warwickshire safe-driving initiative.

"It was a lethal cocktail of speed and inexperience," said Paul, who lives in Warwick with his wife, Rosie, a senior casualty nurse.

"Jon-Paul was 17. It was the last day of half-term and he set off on his mountain bike to meet some school friends.

"He ended up being a passenger in a car being driven by a newly-qualified driver."

Jon-Paul had got into the front passenger seat of a Ford Escort being driven by his friend.

Another pal, Mark Seymour-Mead was also in the car. All three were sixth-formers at Warwick School.

Taking back roads, the driver headed towards Coventry. Near Finham sewage works he failed to stop at a T-junction.

Travelling at at least 62mph the car hit a kerb and ploughed into a tree.

Jon-Paul was killed. The driver and other passenger were injured.

Later the 18-year-old driver went on trial at Birmingham Crown Court. He pleaded not guilty to causing death by reckless driving but guilty to a lesser charge of causing death by driving without due care and attention.

He was fined pounds 100 and banned from driving for a year.

The accident shattered Paul and Rosie, whose other son, Peter, was just 14 at the time.

"It was purgatory," recalled Paul, who works in tourism for Warwickshire County Council. "It's the sort of thing you never think will happen to you. You just can't imagine what it was like."

He recalled the moment when he learned Jon-Paul had been involved in a crash.

"When the police turned up on the doorstep on that Sunday we knew something was disastrously wrong.

"We just knew by their body language."

One of the ways Paul tried to come to terms with the loss was to begin campaigning for road safety.

Initially he called for probationary P-plates for newly-qualified drivers and the imposition of a 50mph speed limit.

Later he took part in Warwickshire Police's Astra project, visiting schools to talk to students about what happened and he also lobbied former PM Tony Blair and Home Secretary Jack Straw.

"Astra was about trying to put over to young drivers it's not just a matter of going out and passing your test and buying a car but looking at how to look after it, get insurance and stay safe.

"Astra did seven sessions with schools and I would go in on the last session and explain to them this is their chance to be sure they don't get involved in this sort of thing and put their friends and family through what I have gone through."

Now Paul is backing a new campaign jointly run by Warwickshire County Council and Coventry City Council, sponsored by Peugeot and involving the Institute of Advanced Motorists and ProDrive the motorsport and vehicle technology business.