0:00:02 > 0:00:06I'm Sophie Morgan, and I like to live life to the full.
0:00:06 > 0:00:09Five seconds, here we go.
0:00:09 > 0:00:15Whether it be TV work, skydiving or modelling, I don't let the fact I'm paralysed hold me back.
0:00:17 > 0:00:19But I wasn't born disabled.
0:00:19 > 0:00:25Aged 18, I was a total wild child, and my driving was just as crazy.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28Six months after passing my driving test, I was speeding,
0:00:28 > 0:00:32misjudged a corner, and the car flipped over.
0:00:33 > 0:00:37I woke up in hospital, confused and completely terrified.
0:00:37 > 0:00:41It was then that I realised that I couldn't feel my body
0:00:41 > 0:00:44and that I was paralysed.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48What is it that turns people like me into maniacs
0:00:48 > 0:00:49when we first get behind the wheel...
0:00:50 > 0:00:53You can't stay at 30 mile an hour and that. It's just...
0:00:53 > 0:00:56It's such a boring speed.
0:00:56 > 0:00:57..and has made traffic collisions
0:00:57 > 0:01:00the single biggest killer of young people?
0:01:00 > 0:01:02I feel like I've been transported into another world
0:01:02 > 0:01:04where, like, rules and fear don't exist.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10'A fifth of all new drivers will have a serious collision
0:01:10 > 0:01:11'in their first year driving.'
0:01:11 > 0:01:14Oh, my God, look how fast he's going!
0:01:15 > 0:01:18To find out why, I'll meet people who've had an accident
0:01:18 > 0:01:20change their lives forever...
0:01:20 > 0:01:23She is very, very poorly. Shattered spine.
0:01:23 > 0:01:2519 years old.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28..as they fight for justice, or to survive.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34I'll discover what it means to be responsible for the death
0:01:34 > 0:01:36of someone you love.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38A lot of people call me a murderer.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41You just want to scream that you never meant to do it.
0:01:43 > 0:01:47I'll be there as one of football's brightest new stars faces up
0:01:47 > 0:01:48to his actions behind the wheel.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52Now I think about it, I wish I'd never drive...drove.
0:01:52 > 0:01:53Really?
0:01:53 > 0:01:58'How do we stop a driving licence becoming a licence to kill?'
0:01:58 > 0:02:03That car... Couldn't stand a chance in that car. Oh, my God.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17It's Saturday night and the crowds are out enjoying themselves.
0:02:17 > 0:02:19But what's about to happen will change the lives
0:02:19 > 0:02:21of three teenagers forever.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26One is an 18-year-old Mercedes driver,
0:02:26 > 0:02:29just leaving a Manchester restaurant.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41Three miles away, 17-year-old student Harveen Singh
0:02:41 > 0:02:44is with his family at evening prayers.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55In the next 30 seconds, two people will die
0:02:55 > 0:02:59and two will be seriously injured, and it's all captured on CCTV.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22REPORTER: A man and a woman died
0:03:22 > 0:03:25when a Mercedes was involved in a collision with a Nissan Micra...
0:03:25 > 0:03:29Her two teenage sons were also injured, one of them critically.
0:03:29 > 0:03:31A man was arrested at the scene.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37Every day, 2,000 people are injured on British roads,
0:03:37 > 0:03:39and five of them die.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43Harveen's mum and uncle were killed in this crash.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45He and his younger brother are now orphans.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49The Mercedes driver who crashed into them is an 18-year-old,
0:03:49 > 0:03:51who's only been driving a few months,
0:03:51 > 0:03:54just like me when I had my crash.
0:03:54 > 0:03:56What made him drive so fast,
0:03:56 > 0:04:00especially when he's got so much to lose?
0:04:00 > 0:04:03Courtney Meppen-Walter, from Bury, play anywhere on the left.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09Courtney Meppen-Walter is a hot shot footballer,
0:04:09 > 0:04:11tipped as the next big star.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13He's been playing football for Manchester City
0:04:13 > 0:04:18since the age of nine and is captain of England's under-18 squad.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21And now he's responsible for the deaths of two people.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27Hi, it's Sophie, I'm here to see Greg Entwistle.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30'Like Courtney, I was driving too fast when I had my accident.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33'It's a miracle I didn't kill anyone.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36'When you're the only victim, the police don't get involved.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38'But this time, it's different.'
0:04:38 > 0:04:40What time of night is this?
0:04:40 > 0:04:42Ten past ten in the evening on Saturday evening.
0:04:42 > 0:04:44What would be the speed limit round here?
0:04:44 > 0:04:45- It's 30 miles an hour.- 30.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48- This is the Mercedes.- Whoa!
0:04:48 > 0:04:50Look how fast he's going!
0:04:51 > 0:04:57This is the vehicle that the Singh family were travelling in.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59He's waiting for a gap in the traffic.
0:04:59 > 0:05:04Oh, my God! That's horrendous!
0:05:04 > 0:05:05Oh, no.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09Oh, look, and there he is, he's got out.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11What do you know about the driver of the Mercedes?
0:05:11 > 0:05:14He'd been out for an evening with his friends.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17Erm, he passed his test 11 months before that.
0:05:17 > 0:05:21As a young driver, he's driving a very powerful car.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24He's pretty inexperienced. Most 18-year-olds are probably
0:05:24 > 0:05:27more likely to be found in the Nissan than in the Mercedes.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37He had no idea that his actions are going to just about ruin
0:05:37 > 0:05:41- so many people's lives. - Including his own.
0:05:41 > 0:05:42Absolutely.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44- There's no winners out of any of this.- No.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47As well as this other family, his life has changed completely as well.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54Courtney is currently on bail, and will reappear
0:05:54 > 0:05:56at the police station in a few weeks.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05In that time, the Singh family will try and come to terms
0:06:05 > 0:06:08with the devastating effects of Courtney's driving.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13Harveen Singh was the only one to walk away from the car.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19With his mother and uncle dead, and his brother on the critical list,
0:06:19 > 0:06:22he and the family want to understand exactly what happened.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26So they've asked to see the wreckage of the car.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35SOBBING AND GROANING
0:06:38 > 0:06:40Look at the car, look at that.
0:06:43 > 0:06:48'Harveen's Uncle Gawa lost his brother and sister in the crash...'
0:06:48 > 0:06:5230 zone, look at that. How can people be surviving that?
0:06:52 > 0:06:54'..and his aunt lost her husband.'
0:06:54 > 0:06:56That is just devastating.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01I mean, that car...
0:07:02 > 0:07:06Couldn't stand a chance in that car. Oh, my God.
0:07:06 > 0:07:10To imagine the people that were actually in that car.
0:07:10 > 0:07:15The human beings, and you just...you look at the car and it's just...
0:07:15 > 0:07:17It's haunted, it's horrible.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24It's too much for Harveen to take in.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27It's really hard to explain a single word.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30Because I want to forget everything,
0:07:30 > 0:07:33but it's really hard because when I go to sleep,
0:07:33 > 0:07:35I'm thinking about my mum.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38Did they tell you that you'd been hit by a young person?
0:07:38 > 0:07:42Yeah, when I'm discharged from hospital,
0:07:42 > 0:07:45so they tell me that a footballer do it.
0:07:45 > 0:07:50And it's like...a footballer, so I think I can't get justice now,
0:07:50 > 0:07:55- cos a City footballer, he can buy a big solicitor.- Mmm.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00If he got a prison... Got only ten years.
0:08:00 > 0:08:01I lost my whole family.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03How are you going to cope?
0:08:03 > 0:08:07I don't have any words, don't have any words to explain.
0:08:09 > 0:08:13I can understand why Harveen is feeling such a mixture of emotions.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16But the police will stick to the facts,
0:08:16 > 0:08:19and the CCTV clearly shows Courtney travelling much faster
0:08:19 > 0:08:21than the other cars on the road.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26Speed is a factor in a quarter of fatal road traffic collisions.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31For many of us, me included, from the moment we pass our test,
0:08:31 > 0:08:34we look forward to the feeling of power under our foot.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39And for some people, speed is the only reason to drive.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42This looks interesting - car cruise.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45Across the country, large groups regularly meet up
0:08:45 > 0:08:48to show off their super-charged cars and bikes.
0:08:48 > 0:08:51Many go for one purpose - to race.
0:08:51 > 0:08:53They do it on public roads that are normally quiet,
0:08:53 > 0:08:57but at weekends turn into an illegal race track.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00Those who take part don't seem to care about breaking the law
0:09:00 > 0:09:02or anyone's safety.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04"It's pointless meeting there,
0:09:04 > 0:09:07"police are all over it as they have been for the last year."
0:09:07 > 0:09:10"Police blocked everyone in and handed every single person
0:09:10 > 0:09:12"a section 59."
0:09:12 > 0:09:14"My mate's MG got taken off him."
0:09:14 > 0:09:16Well, it's obviously really illegal
0:09:16 > 0:09:19because they're... All the messages are panicking about
0:09:19 > 0:09:20whether police are going to come.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24"We want to keep one of Manchester's biggest car meets going."
0:09:24 > 0:09:27"Who's going to be attending the new location this Friday?"
0:09:31 > 0:09:33I want to go along, to try and understand
0:09:33 > 0:09:35these drivers' need for speed.
0:09:35 > 0:09:39When I was 18, would I have been classed as a speed freak?
0:09:42 > 0:09:46One thing I do know - if I ever was addicted to speed,
0:09:46 > 0:09:47I'm certainly not now.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51I am really nervous about this
0:09:51 > 0:09:56because, ever since my accident,
0:09:56 > 0:09:59I've...I've always been scared of speeding,
0:09:59 > 0:10:01and there's going to be a lot of speeding around!
0:10:14 > 0:10:16It's crazy!
0:10:16 > 0:10:18This is madness.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21I feel like I've been transported into another world
0:10:21 > 0:10:24where, like, rules and fear don't exist.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26A little bit!
0:10:28 > 0:10:30It was hard to hear above the noise,
0:10:30 > 0:10:32but I want to know what brings people to these events.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35What about you guys? Do you race or just watching?
0:10:35 > 0:10:38I used to have a bit of a play but I don't now.
0:10:38 > 0:10:39Why not?
0:10:39 > 0:10:41I've got a police mark on my car and a few section 59s
0:10:41 > 0:10:42and my licence revoked.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47- Speed's like a drug, innit, really? - Yeah.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50You can't stay at 30 mile an hour and that.
0:10:50 > 0:10:51It's such a boring speed!
0:10:58 > 0:11:00- You just went for a race?- Yeah.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02It gets your adrenaline rush going.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05It doesn't scare me because it's never happened to me.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07Do you understand where I'm coming from?
0:11:07 > 0:11:11I don't think anybody realises until it happens to themselves.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14I wasn't like this, I wasn't like, you know, pushing the limits.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16I was just an inexperienced kid driving badly.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19This is different, you know, this is a different environment.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21It scares me.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23'Not everyone here tonight has come to race.'
0:11:23 > 0:11:25- There's dickheads out tonight. - Really?
0:11:25 > 0:11:28- Yeah, there's knobheads out tonight. - You can see them flying up and down.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31Just cos you come down, doesn't mean you're going to be...
0:11:31 > 0:11:32leathering it up and down.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34We've been stood here looking at the people
0:11:34 > 0:11:37- driving past going...- Hmm, yeah.
0:11:37 > 0:11:41As the night wears on, and with no sign of the police,
0:11:41 > 0:11:44some drivers take more and more risks.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46They're behaving as if they're indestructible.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49It's like their brain ignores danger.
0:11:49 > 0:11:50Get out the road!
0:11:54 > 0:11:56Someone's going to get hurt on a bike, I'll tell you that!
0:11:56 > 0:11:59- They're dangerous.- So you think bikes are more dangerous?
0:11:59 > 0:12:00Yeah, course.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03- Are you not scared of having an accident?- No.
0:12:03 > 0:12:05What if you weren't killed but you were in a state
0:12:05 > 0:12:08where you couldn't ride a bike again?
0:12:08 > 0:12:12You were sat in a wheelchair, or you lost a limb or worse?
0:12:12 > 0:12:15I'd rather just be killed than be, like, paralysed or something.
0:12:15 > 0:12:17You'd rather be killed than paralysed?
0:12:17 > 0:12:19- I was paralysed in a car accident, yeah?- Yeah.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22So you're saying... but that doesn't bother you?
0:12:22 > 0:12:24You're not thinking about that?
0:12:24 > 0:12:26Be awful, that. It would be awful.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28I'd probably take my life.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32- You'd kill yourself?- Yeah, I wouldn't want to be like that.
0:12:32 > 0:12:33'They're just annoying me now.'
0:12:33 > 0:12:37That slap in the face when life happens hasn't happened to them.
0:12:37 > 0:12:38But I fear for the day
0:12:38 > 0:12:42when they have to face the consequences of just having fun.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51I'm relieved the night passes without disaster.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55But only 20 miles away, the same week,
0:12:55 > 0:12:58another cruise ends very differently.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04Two bikes have been involved in a collision, near Wigan,
0:13:04 > 0:13:06and one rider is dead.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11The yellow bike you see on the road, the witnesses, they've said
0:13:11 > 0:13:14they couldn't believe the speed he was going.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17For some reason, we're not quite sure at the moment,
0:13:17 > 0:13:20he's struck this motorcycle here, there's been a massive impact
0:13:20 > 0:13:24between the two and unfortunately a male's died.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27And from what I understand, it's the male on the Hornet who's died.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34The accident has claimed the life of 18-year-old Ryan Smith.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38The other victim, Leah Davis, has been taken to hospital.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42Leah Davis. She's very, very poorly.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46- OK.- Shattered spine.
0:13:46 > 0:13:4819 years old.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59Ryan may have only had his bike licence for a year,
0:13:59 > 0:14:03but he had a established himself as a top rider in the biking community.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21I think to keep Ryan off motorbikes, I think
0:14:21 > 0:14:24you'd have had to take his legs off and his arms off!
0:14:24 > 0:14:26Because that's the way he just was.
0:14:26 > 0:14:31Dead lovable, you know what I mean? That's how he was. A great son.
0:14:33 > 0:14:38He was still a baby to me. He never grew up. He never grew up.
0:14:38 > 0:14:40He was like our gentle giant, really, wasn't he?
0:14:40 > 0:14:42That's what everybody called him - big, friendly giant.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45There's a picture of him up there,
0:14:45 > 0:14:51sat on the British Grand Prix champion's bike, seven year old.
0:14:51 > 0:14:52He had the bug.
0:14:54 > 0:14:58I know a lot of families would probably say, well, should you have
0:14:58 > 0:15:02let him have that bike? Well, yeah, I should because that was his life.
0:15:02 > 0:15:03He loved bikes.
0:15:03 > 0:15:08And I think it'd be cruel to take... Well, I'd have took his life away.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11If I'd took his bike away, I'd have took his life away.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14- You find, like, young girls love horses.- Yeah.- What do you do?
0:15:14 > 0:15:18Do you take the horse off them because it's thrown her off twice?
0:15:18 > 0:15:22You're always going to have people with a passion for bikes
0:15:22 > 0:15:24and it doesn't leave them.
0:15:26 > 0:15:27It's such...so hard.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31Christ, look at the bikes.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34It always shocks me when you look at the images of the machinery
0:15:34 > 0:15:37when it's damaged and you think about the machinery
0:15:37 > 0:15:39being completely written off and broken to pieces,
0:15:39 > 0:15:41and just think about... and that's metal!
0:15:41 > 0:15:44You think of the bodies that were involved in that.
0:15:44 > 0:15:45We don't stand a chance!
0:15:47 > 0:15:50'The police are trying to piece together what happened.'
0:15:50 > 0:15:55- This is Ryan, lifts up.- Yep. - Lifts up, lifts up.- Yeah.
0:15:55 > 0:15:56Oh, God.
0:15:56 > 0:15:58Yeah, that's not 30 mph.
0:15:58 > 0:15:59God, that's fast.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03In his showing off of his skills, it's gone wrong.
0:16:03 > 0:16:04It was not the place to do it.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07You cannot predict what's going to happen in a public place.
0:16:07 > 0:16:12You have a witness saying that Leah has pulled out into the junction?
0:16:12 > 0:16:15Undoubtedly, Leah is in the main carriageway.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18She's pulled out into the carriageway, ahead of a vehicle.
0:16:18 > 0:16:19That asks the question,
0:16:19 > 0:16:21was she driving as good as she's expected to do?
0:16:21 > 0:16:23He's travelling at such speed.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25Very much so. This is the thing about Leah's driving -
0:16:25 > 0:16:27would a reasonable and competent driver
0:16:27 > 0:16:30have expected something like that to happen?
0:16:30 > 0:16:32I know that there's questions to be asked
0:16:32 > 0:16:35about both persons' standard of driving.
0:16:35 > 0:16:37There's a combination of Leah's actions
0:16:37 > 0:16:39and Ryan's actions that have led to this.
0:16:44 > 0:16:48I always think scenes of accidents are such haunting places.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51Somewhere that, to most of us, would just be a road
0:16:51 > 0:16:55can become the most significant place in a family's life.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58This spot is already so important to Ryan's family and friends.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09One in three of all people who die on the roads is under 25.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13Experts say that's because younger drivers are more likely
0:17:13 > 0:17:15to take risks.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19But with less experience, they're less able to cope
0:17:19 > 0:17:22with those risks, especially if something goes wrong.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32It's been a week since footballer Courtney Meppen-Walter's car
0:17:32 > 0:17:34collided with the Singh family's.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38Harveen's mother and uncle were killed,
0:17:38 > 0:17:43and his brother Ajmit suffered severe head and brain injuries.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46Doctors don't yet know if he can recover.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49We've kept him extremely well-sedated, and what we're
0:17:49 > 0:17:52trying to do now is to slowly wake him from that sedation.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55However, when you're sedated, it doesn't tell you what's actually
0:17:55 > 0:17:58going on underneath. It's like the current in a river.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00You know what's on top, might look calm,
0:18:00 > 0:18:02but you've no idea what's going on underneath.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04He's sustained a significant injury.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07Anyone in intensive care is touch and go.
0:18:07 > 0:18:08Can he hear us?
0:18:08 > 0:18:09I always assume somebody can hear.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12I always assume the last sense anybody loses is their hearing,
0:18:12 > 0:18:15and it might not be the case. It might just be me
0:18:15 > 0:18:18making it easier for me. Otherwise you end up talking to yourself.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34Ajmit doesn't know his mum and uncle are dead,
0:18:34 > 0:18:36and today they're being buried.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44At 16, Harveen is now head of the family,
0:18:44 > 0:18:48as their dad was murdered by the Taliban in their native Afghanistan.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57They fled to Britain just a year ago,
0:18:57 > 0:18:59but that new life is now in tatters.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06The 18-year-old whose car ploughed into them
0:19:06 > 0:19:09also faces an uncertain future.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12But while he waits to see if he'll be charged,
0:19:12 > 0:19:14Courtney Meppen-Walter has made his first substitute
0:19:14 > 0:19:18appearance for the Manchester City first team.
0:19:18 > 0:19:20He tweeted how proud he was.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22"Best day of whole life being on the bench
0:19:22 > 0:19:26"for the first team in the Champions League game against Ajax."
0:19:28 > 0:19:32This is someone who should be starting a successful career,
0:19:32 > 0:19:35but instead he could be facing the end of it.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39Courtney's next appearance is at a police station custody suite.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42Up to now, he's believed that the key factor in the crash
0:19:42 > 0:19:45was the Singh family pulling out in front of him.
0:19:45 > 0:19:50But today he's going to be faced with the reality of what happened.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52I am authorised to take you into the police station,
0:19:52 > 0:19:55so you can be questioned about the offence you've been arrested for.
0:19:55 > 0:19:56- Do you understand that?- Yeah.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58- Are you fit and well?- Yep.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01- Anything that's going to affect your stay here in custody?- No.
0:20:01 > 0:20:05The police treat him like any other criminal, but it isn't every day
0:20:05 > 0:20:08they have someone tipped as a future football superstar in their station.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15Courtney is about to be shown the CCTV footage for the first time.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18He'll be told his Mercedes was travelling at 56 mph -
0:21:18 > 0:21:20almost twice the speed limit.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26'It will change everything he previously thought
0:21:26 > 0:21:27'about that night.'
0:21:27 > 0:21:29He did refer to it as an accident, didn't he?
0:21:29 > 0:21:30It wasn't an accident!
0:21:30 > 0:21:34- There are actions...- It's avoidable. - Exactly, it's avoidable.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37Had he not being doing what he was doing on that night,
0:21:37 > 0:21:39it's unlikely that we'd all be sat here today.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42I mean, it's got to be too overwhelming for a young guy
0:21:42 > 0:21:45- to actually fathom, hasn't it? - Absolutely. Yeah, for anybody.
0:21:45 > 0:21:49Yeah, I mean, to actually go to sleep with that, that he's taken
0:21:49 > 0:21:53someone's mum and someone's family away from them.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55Put yourself in their place, it could be me
0:21:55 > 0:21:59- or that could be my brother, sister, father.- Yeah, yeah.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03And it really could with driving. They could just be driving too fast
0:22:03 > 0:22:05and boom, look at what's happened.
0:22:06 > 0:22:08'I'm not sure how many of us
0:22:08 > 0:22:11'can honestly say that we always drive at the speed limit.'
0:22:15 > 0:22:17In fact, road safety charity Brake suggests
0:22:17 > 0:22:21young drivers are more likely to regularly exceed it,
0:22:21 > 0:22:25and there's even a scientific reason for that,
0:22:25 > 0:22:28because the part of the brain that controls taking risks
0:22:28 > 0:22:30doesn't usually develop until the mid 20s.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35But in my case,
0:22:35 > 0:22:37it was something else that changed my attitude to speed.
0:22:37 > 0:22:39My accident.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44And though I'm living with the results of that, believe me
0:22:44 > 0:22:47when I say I feel lucky next to Courtney.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50I would always choose to damage myself than live with
0:22:50 > 0:22:52the guilt of taking a life,
0:22:52 > 0:22:55but it easily could have been different.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59It's nearly ten years since my crash,
0:22:59 > 0:23:01and it's time to face my demons.
0:23:01 > 0:23:03I'm back in Scotland where it happened,
0:23:03 > 0:23:06and I'm meeting the people I could have killed.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08We haven't talked about it since that night.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13Coming back to this place is very significant for me,
0:23:13 > 0:23:19because it's really where my old life ended and a new life started.
0:23:19 > 0:23:24I re-live this, this journey, in my dreams sometimes.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28It's something that is with me for life.
0:23:28 > 0:23:29It's the image of this route,
0:23:29 > 0:23:33of this area, and I never really know how I feel.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36The main difference, I think, is that when I come up here,
0:23:36 > 0:23:40I'm coming up here now as someone who's in a wheelchair.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44And I look back at the girl I was then, wandering round,
0:23:44 > 0:23:48walking about, and how little I knew how things were going to be affected
0:23:48 > 0:23:49and what was going to happen
0:23:49 > 0:23:52and the changes that were going to take place.
0:23:55 > 0:23:59So this is...this is where I took my last steps ever.
0:24:02 > 0:24:07It was here in 2003 that we were out celebrating our A level results.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10We all knew it was the end of an era,
0:24:10 > 0:24:12but for me it was the end of one life.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17I remember how I was feeling at the time.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20Full of excitement because it was basically the next start...
0:24:20 > 0:24:24the start of my new life, out of school, off to uni.
0:24:24 > 0:24:25The reality was that
0:24:25 > 0:24:28that was not going to happen and it was going to change.
0:24:28 > 0:24:30CAR HORN BEEPS
0:24:32 > 0:24:35'The crash happened as we drove back to a friend's house.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37'I had only driven half a mile.'
0:24:37 > 0:24:39Isn't there meant to be a fence here?
0:24:39 > 0:24:42- There was but it's gone. - But they still haven't fixed it?
0:24:42 > 0:24:45They haven't fixed the road either.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48- They can't fix the road, though. - There's marks on the road, yeah.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51Do you remember how fast I was driving?
0:24:51 > 0:24:54I think it was maybe, like, over 70.
0:24:54 > 0:24:58- You took the corner too wide and then, er...- Shot across.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01Shot across and then at the verge, lifted the car.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03And then I put my head through a window.
0:25:03 > 0:25:05- Really?- You were hysterical.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07You kept saying, "I can't feel my legs, I can't feel my legs."
0:25:07 > 0:25:09So I thought, "Oh, it's pretty bad."
0:25:18 > 0:25:23The fire brigade were there when we left, but they, er... They hadn't
0:25:23 > 0:25:25even... I don't think they'd even worked out
0:25:25 > 0:25:30how they were going to get Sophie out by the time we left.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38The minute I start thinking about how it affects the people that
0:25:38 > 0:25:44I have in my life, it just... It makes me very, very upset,
0:25:44 > 0:25:47cos it's...it was my fault. Everything was my fault.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50And my friends have had to live with what I did
0:25:50 > 0:25:54and I don't think I'll ever find peace with that.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58I was angry with you because you endangered our lives.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01There was anger... I think there was upset.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04I think that's absolutely fair enough that any of you
0:26:04 > 0:26:05would get angry.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08If I had been you, and you'd have crashed that car,
0:26:08 > 0:26:11despite anything that you'd done to yourself, I'd be furious with you.
0:26:11 > 0:26:16I hate thinking about the fact that I've done lasting damage to any
0:26:16 > 0:26:19of you. I'm glad that it was just me, and in many ways I think
0:26:19 > 0:26:24I deserve what happened to me because I was driving like an idiot.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26I just thought that the rules didn't apply to me
0:26:26 > 0:26:30and that I could make my own rules, and I could do my own thing.
0:26:35 > 0:26:39Nowadays I think of that 18-year-old me with a shudder,
0:26:39 > 0:26:43and I think that she shouldn't have been allowed on the road.
0:26:43 > 0:26:4926,500 drivers under 25 are disqualified every year,
0:26:49 > 0:26:52and there are some who haven't just made careless mistakes
0:26:52 > 0:26:53when they're driving.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56They're deliberately putting people's lives in danger.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59It was one of those that biker Chris Sinclair came across
0:26:59 > 0:27:02one evening when he was heading home from work.
0:27:02 > 0:27:0520-year-old Nikash Sultan -
0:27:05 > 0:27:07a petrol head who spent hundreds of hours
0:27:07 > 0:27:10and thousands of pounds modifying his car,
0:27:10 > 0:27:13and what he really liked to do in them was race...
0:27:16 > 0:27:18..wherever he felt like it,
0:27:18 > 0:27:21sometimes filmed by his mates.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24The police took me down the route Sultan travelled when he decided
0:27:24 > 0:27:29to race another driver, someone he'd never even met - Umair Qureshi.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34Sultan's vehicle pulls up first here at these lights
0:27:34 > 0:27:36just by the Natwest bank.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39And then Qureshi's Mini pulls up second.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41Sultan's took issue with Qureshi driving the car.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44- Qureshi just took issue with him driving his car.- Hmm.
0:27:44 > 0:27:46They now both want to out-perform each other
0:27:46 > 0:27:48and demonstrate who's the best driver.
0:27:53 > 0:27:55Our witness describes that he sees the cars coming
0:27:55 > 0:27:59in his rear-view mirror and they're already making use
0:27:59 > 0:28:01- of this red hashed markings here. - Really?
0:28:01 > 0:28:04And he describes the cars as nearly having a collision
0:28:04 > 0:28:07with this central island, and he says they're using both sides
0:28:07 > 0:28:10of the road to make progress down this road.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13Now the last sighting we get before the collision is from here.
0:28:13 > 0:28:15- There's two cameras on that building.- Yeah.
0:28:15 > 0:28:19At this point we've got them at 70 miles an hour.
0:28:19 > 0:28:2170 miles an hour, here?!
0:28:21 > 0:28:24Yeah. A Honda mounts the pavement, drives up the pavement,
0:28:24 > 0:28:27and across straight into the opposing carriageway just where
0:28:27 > 0:28:30- that silver car is now...- Yeah. - ..and he hit Chris head on.
0:28:31 > 0:28:3522-year-old Chris was riding in the opposite direction
0:28:35 > 0:28:38when Sultan's car crashed into him at 70 mph.
0:28:40 > 0:28:44The witnesses described Chris as going 30 feet in the air.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47Some describe him as going three-quarters of the height
0:28:47 > 0:28:51of a lamp-post, and they see his body crash to the ground.
0:28:53 > 0:28:57At what point did the balance tip that winning that race was more
0:28:57 > 0:28:59important than everybody's lives?
0:29:03 > 0:29:05The crash happened four months ago,
0:29:05 > 0:29:08and while the drivers wait to appear in court,
0:29:08 > 0:29:10Chris has spent all that time in hospital.
0:29:10 > 0:29:12He's got multiple injuries,
0:29:12 > 0:29:16and has been wearing a metal halo to try and heal his broken neck.
0:29:16 > 0:29:18But it's causing him great pain.
0:29:21 > 0:29:23We've got a couple of pics of your neck to do if that's all right?
0:29:23 > 0:29:25Open your mouth as wide as you can.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34- Right, Christopher. All done. - Spot on.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37In a lot of pain, a lot of pain.
0:29:43 > 0:29:46The X-ray confirms that Chris's neck is healing
0:29:46 > 0:29:48and the halo can be removed.
0:29:50 > 0:29:51Jesus!
0:29:58 > 0:30:01'But Chris will spend months going in and out of hospital,
0:30:01 > 0:30:03'something I'm all too familiar with.'
0:30:05 > 0:30:06How are you feeling now?
0:30:06 > 0:30:09Same, to be honest, not... slow recovery,
0:30:09 > 0:30:14erm, but I am pleased I've had the halo took off
0:30:14 > 0:30:18and I'm in a lot less pain with my head-wise.
0:30:18 > 0:30:21Is that the first time you've been in an accident like that?
0:30:21 > 0:30:23- Yeah.- Yeah.
0:30:23 > 0:30:26You know what dangers you take when you jump on a bike,
0:30:26 > 0:30:31but you don't think someone's going to hit you at that high speed.
0:30:31 > 0:30:33The guys that hit you, are you angry with them?
0:30:35 > 0:30:37Yeah, furious.
0:30:37 > 0:30:40Yeah. If I ever get hold of them,
0:30:40 > 0:30:44erm, you know, I'd...I'd...
0:30:44 > 0:30:49I'd do something I don't want to do, to be honest.
0:30:49 > 0:30:53When they do go to court and they do go to prison, you know,
0:30:53 > 0:30:55I'll feel a bit better about that,
0:30:55 > 0:30:58but it still won't change the fact that, you know, I nearly died.
0:31:03 > 0:31:05Considering the speed Sultan's car was travelling
0:31:05 > 0:31:09when he hit Chris, it's amazing he's still alive,
0:31:09 > 0:31:12but he's looking at a long and difficult recovery.
0:31:16 > 0:31:19I was in hospital for four months, and was put into an induced coma
0:31:19 > 0:31:22as a last ditch attempt to stop my brain swelling.
0:31:26 > 0:31:29In Salford, doctors did the same with Ajmit Singh.
0:31:29 > 0:31:31Now they've woken him up,
0:31:31 > 0:31:35but, so far, they don't know if the collision has caused lasting damage.
0:31:37 > 0:31:41Today his family are hoping to get an update on his condition,
0:31:41 > 0:31:43and Harveen is hoping his brother will respond
0:31:43 > 0:31:47to the sound of his voice calling his nickname.
0:32:10 > 0:32:13Ajmit is conscious, but isn't responding to stimulation.
0:32:33 > 0:32:36Harveen fears that his brother will never recover.
0:32:46 > 0:32:49But he knows that Ajmit is a fighter.
0:32:59 > 0:33:01It's working. Ajmit has heard his brother's voice.
0:33:15 > 0:33:17This is his first response since the accident,
0:33:17 > 0:33:20and it's a breakthrough moment for the family.
0:33:25 > 0:33:29Have the doctors said what they hope will be for him, the prognosis?
0:33:29 > 0:33:35Yeah, they said he's going great, and maybe in future he can walk
0:33:35 > 0:33:38but they're not sure, they're not sure.
0:33:38 > 0:33:41If he can try, then maybe he can talk.
0:33:41 > 0:33:43He's still got a long way to go, hasn't he?
0:33:43 > 0:33:48- Yeah, the doctor said maybe he could take one year or something.- Yeah.
0:33:48 > 0:33:50- Long.- Long, long time.- Yeah.
0:33:53 > 0:33:57Ajmit is starting to make progress.
0:33:57 > 0:33:59But in another ward in the hospital
0:33:59 > 0:34:02lies another victim of a road traffic collision.
0:34:02 > 0:34:05A week after being left in a coma in the crash that killed
0:34:05 > 0:34:09Ryan Smith, Leah Davies's fight for survival is coming to an end.
0:34:10 > 0:34:15# If I lay here
0:34:15 > 0:34:19# If I just lay here... #
0:34:19 > 0:34:23Leah's twin Sarah kept a journal in the hope that she could share it
0:34:23 > 0:34:24with her sister one day.
0:34:24 > 0:34:27"We finally got into Resuscitation to see you.
0:34:27 > 0:34:29"I was shocked at what you looked like.
0:34:29 > 0:34:32"You were swollen and bruised, it didn't look like you.
0:34:32 > 0:34:36"It just hit me hard. We got told you had severe back injuries.
0:34:36 > 0:34:38"Leg and arm and head injuries also.
0:34:38 > 0:34:40"This was my worst nightmare.
0:34:40 > 0:34:43"I felt like I was dreaming and I couldn't wake myself up."
0:34:43 > 0:34:45How was Leah when you first saw her?
0:34:45 > 0:34:50You couldn't hug her, and you couldn't...
0:34:50 > 0:34:52You couldn't kiss her properly.
0:34:52 > 0:34:54All you could do is stroke her hand.
0:34:54 > 0:34:56We talked to her, we put photographs up in the room
0:34:56 > 0:34:59so that the nurses knew what she looked like.
0:34:59 > 0:35:04The Leah that was lay there on the bed, she was a broken person
0:35:04 > 0:35:10so we wanted to let them know that this is who Leah is.
0:35:10 > 0:35:12This is who Leah was.
0:35:12 > 0:35:15"I was in your room with you on my own for a while
0:35:15 > 0:35:17"and I played your song to you.
0:35:17 > 0:35:20"I sang every word to you. I know you could hear me.
0:35:20 > 0:35:23"I smell your hair and run my fingers through it.
0:35:24 > 0:35:27"Everything about you is so beautiful and always will be."
0:35:30 > 0:35:36I didn't want to be there when they turned the machines off
0:35:36 > 0:35:41cos I don't think I could see her like that, but then, erm,
0:35:41 > 0:35:46I've said from the beginning, really, that we came in the world together
0:35:46 > 0:35:48so we should have gone out together.
0:35:54 > 0:35:58Until you're a twin, you won't realise what it's like.
0:35:58 > 0:36:02It's just different from a sister or a brother or whatever.
0:36:02 > 0:36:04Like, it's a different love what you have for your parents
0:36:04 > 0:36:09than you do with your sister and then it's just more intense.
0:36:09 > 0:36:14That's the only thing I can describe it as, really, is intense.
0:36:14 > 0:36:16You seem really strong about it.
0:36:16 > 0:36:18- Sometimes I'm not. - No, I bet you're not.
0:36:18 > 0:36:20I know you have to cry about it but...
0:36:20 > 0:36:22- I don't think it's my time to cry yet, really.- Really?
0:36:22 > 0:36:25Yeah, cos I've not let go of her yet, really, so...
0:36:25 > 0:36:30Cos I'm still talking to her. And I sound like a mental person!
0:36:30 > 0:36:34But, like, I think everyone should have a journal.
0:36:34 > 0:36:37Leah and Ryan's deaths have bitterly divided some of their friends,
0:36:37 > 0:36:40with both sides blaming the other for the crash.
0:36:42 > 0:36:45It's the after stuff, the gossip, people getting involved.
0:36:45 > 0:36:47Grieving does horrible things.
0:36:47 > 0:36:49It does nice things and horrible things,
0:36:49 > 0:36:51and people don't think in their right mind.
0:36:51 > 0:36:55I think if didn't have all this animosity, we could have pulled
0:36:55 > 0:37:00together, and no-one needs to have all this.
0:37:00 > 0:37:01'In coroner's court,
0:37:01 > 0:37:04'neither driver was held accountable for the crash,
0:37:04 > 0:37:06'but I can understand why families who've lost
0:37:06 > 0:37:10'someone in a collision might want to find someone to blame.
0:37:10 > 0:37:13'I can't imagine, though, what it must feel like to be the person
0:37:13 > 0:37:15'responsible for a death.
0:37:15 > 0:37:18'And how much worse that must be if you've killed someone you love.'
0:37:18 > 0:37:21I'm in the middle of talking, and then somebody gets a picture.
0:37:21 > 0:37:23- Not your best shot!- No, it's not!
0:37:23 > 0:37:27'Jayme Mann and Lee Dipino had been best friends for years
0:37:27 > 0:37:32'before starting a relationship and planning a future together.'
0:37:32 > 0:37:33We were really happy
0:37:33 > 0:37:37and things were just going how we wanted them to.
0:37:37 > 0:37:39And then it all...
0:37:39 > 0:37:41- Went wrong?- Very wrong.
0:37:47 > 0:37:50Jayme had only been driving for six months
0:37:50 > 0:37:52when she drove them home one night.
0:37:54 > 0:37:56So this is where you had your accident? Yeah.
0:37:57 > 0:38:00I remember coming round that corner there,
0:38:00 > 0:38:05then I felt the car come out at the back,
0:38:05 > 0:38:09and then I just didn't know what to do to get back from that.
0:38:09 > 0:38:11- Really? So you felt like the car had lost control?- Yeah.
0:38:11 > 0:38:14And then you didn't know how to steer it back into control?
0:38:14 > 0:38:15Yeah, yeah.
0:38:15 > 0:38:19I can't remember seeing it, but I can hear it all.
0:38:19 > 0:38:21I can still hear it now.
0:38:21 > 0:38:23Going into the first tree,
0:38:23 > 0:38:25and then after that I just remember waking up.
0:38:26 > 0:38:28Sorry.
0:38:28 > 0:38:32'It's difficult to know exactly what happened or why Jayme lost control.
0:38:32 > 0:38:36'There's no CCTV on roads like this one.
0:38:36 > 0:38:39'Jayme was shaken but not badly injured,
0:38:39 > 0:38:41'but Lee was instantly killed.'
0:38:41 > 0:38:44Did you know that Lee was dead?
0:38:44 > 0:38:49Yeah. You could just tell that nobody was there.
0:38:51 > 0:38:56Knowing you're responsible for that happening to somebody
0:38:56 > 0:38:58is the worst thing ever.
0:39:00 > 0:39:04'Before the collision, the couple had shared a large group of friends,
0:39:04 > 0:39:07'but Lee's death changed all that.'
0:39:07 > 0:39:12A lot of people are quite nasty towards me now.
0:39:12 > 0:39:13What did they say?
0:39:13 > 0:39:19- Called me a murderer and stuff. - People called you a murderer?- Yes.
0:39:19 > 0:39:25You just sometimes want to scream and say that you never meant to do it.
0:39:32 > 0:39:36In court, Lee's family had hoped that Jayme would go to prison,
0:39:36 > 0:39:39but the judge blamed "a momentary lack of attention",
0:39:39 > 0:39:43and decided she'd suffered enough, so she didn't go to jail.
0:39:43 > 0:39:46But two years after the accident,
0:39:46 > 0:39:49I get the feeling that she's really serving a life sentence.
0:39:49 > 0:39:51What's happened to Jayme
0:39:51 > 0:39:54is one of the saddest things that could happen to anybody.
0:39:54 > 0:39:59To have killed the person that you love and to be responsible
0:39:59 > 0:40:01for that and have to live with that for the rest of your life.
0:40:01 > 0:40:03How does anybody recover from that?
0:40:03 > 0:40:07If you survive a car accident, I don't think people realise
0:40:07 > 0:40:09just how life-destroying it is.
0:40:09 > 0:40:12And even if you do walk away, you never walk away.
0:40:12 > 0:40:14You carry that forever.
0:40:24 > 0:40:26When I next visit Chris Sinclair,
0:40:26 > 0:40:30hit on his bike by 70-miles-an-hour road-racer Nikash Sultan,
0:40:30 > 0:40:33he's doing well with his physical recovery,
0:40:33 > 0:40:36but seeking justice is very much on his mind.
0:40:36 > 0:40:39Mr Sultan has pleaded guilty.
0:40:39 > 0:40:42As a result of those admissions, we charged him with dangerous driving.
0:40:42 > 0:40:46That is the most serious driving offence, without causing
0:40:46 > 0:40:49a death, that the police can charge somebody with.
0:40:49 > 0:40:51I'll be completely honest with you today.
0:40:51 > 0:40:55I need to prepare you for the sentencing at the crown court.
0:40:55 > 0:40:59The maximum sentence for dangerous driving is two years' imprisonment.
0:41:01 > 0:41:05It's something that neither you or I have any control over.
0:41:05 > 0:41:08Doctors have said it's going to take a year for me
0:41:08 > 0:41:12to get back to work, and even then I won't even be fully healed,
0:41:12 > 0:41:15and he'll probably be out of prison by then.
0:41:15 > 0:41:20There's no other word to describe it except ridiculous.
0:41:20 > 0:41:24It's something that we struggle to comprehend.
0:41:24 > 0:41:27It's almost the final kick in the guts, really.
0:41:27 > 0:41:28Thanks a lot, mate.
0:41:28 > 0:41:32Last December, the maximum sentence for causing serious injury
0:41:32 > 0:41:35by dangerous driving increased to five years.
0:41:35 > 0:41:38But that's come too late for Chris.
0:41:38 > 0:41:41I was hoping he'd get five more years,
0:41:41 > 0:41:47but, no, he's only getting the one year.
0:41:47 > 0:41:51You were the victim of dangerous driving,
0:41:51 > 0:41:55and it makes me really sad that you're not going to get the peace
0:41:55 > 0:41:57that you deserve.
0:41:57 > 0:41:59I really want to do it myself, to be honest.
0:41:59 > 0:42:02Go and smash him into a car
0:42:02 > 0:42:06and leave him half dead on the floor.
0:42:06 > 0:42:07I really do.
0:42:08 > 0:42:12I'd happily do a year in prison to know he's going through
0:42:12 > 0:42:13what I've been through.
0:42:16 > 0:42:20At this point in time, he has lost himself a bit, to the point where
0:42:20 > 0:42:25he can say he wants to hurt someone and you do lose a bit of yourself
0:42:25 > 0:42:29when you have an accident. You aren't the same, you are changed.
0:42:29 > 0:42:34I think that's what I just saw in Chris and it makes me really sad.
0:42:34 > 0:42:37It's not about me or anything but it's the anniversary
0:42:37 > 0:42:40of my accident, and it makes me think about where I was then.
0:42:42 > 0:42:44And still, you know,
0:42:44 > 0:42:46nine years on, I'm still living with the consequences
0:42:46 > 0:42:50and the repercussions of this, of the driving...
0:42:50 > 0:42:52of the driving badly.
0:42:54 > 0:42:58The drivers responsible for Chris's collision were later
0:42:58 > 0:43:00sentenced to 16 months in prison.
0:43:04 > 0:43:07But for Ajmit Singh, the repercussions of the accident
0:43:07 > 0:43:10that killed his mum and uncle will be felt forever.
0:43:10 > 0:43:13Still in hospital, he's making real progress,
0:43:13 > 0:43:17but he can't speak, and communicates using a spell board,
0:43:17 > 0:43:19and he isn't really aware of what's happened.
0:43:23 > 0:43:25I'll get your chart.
0:43:25 > 0:43:27Should I get his chart for him?
0:43:27 > 0:43:30Ajmit still doesn't know his mum is dead.
0:43:30 > 0:43:34"Call my M-U-M."
0:43:34 > 0:43:38- Mum. Do you want to ring your mum? - Yeah?
0:43:39 > 0:43:42He keeps asking for his mum and his uncle,
0:43:42 > 0:43:45- and "call my mum" he keeps signalling, doesn't he?- Yeah.
0:43:45 > 0:43:47- What do you say to him? - I just have to keep saying I will,
0:43:47 > 0:43:50because I can't break the news to him if his family haven't.
0:43:50 > 0:43:51I think they're just trying to protect him
0:43:51 > 0:43:53and they're worried he'll go backwards
0:43:53 > 0:43:55because he's made such good progress.
0:43:55 > 0:43:56That must be really hard for you.
0:43:56 > 0:43:59It is because it's all he's asked today.
0:43:59 > 0:44:02- He's asked me about 40 times today. - Has he really?
0:44:02 > 0:44:05Spelling it out. Spelling "Mum" out. "Call Mum."
0:44:05 > 0:44:08'It's an awful situation but I can understand why
0:44:08 > 0:44:11'the family are worried the truth may slow down his recovery.'
0:44:11 > 0:44:14..H-E... When?
0:44:14 > 0:44:17A-M. "When I am..."
0:44:17 > 0:44:19"When am I going?"
0:44:19 > 0:44:21When you're a little bit better,
0:44:21 > 0:44:23but it won't be long till you get home.
0:44:23 > 0:44:25It won't be long. You're making a lot of progress.
0:44:31 > 0:44:35Today Courtney Meppen-Walter is back at the police station. He'll find
0:44:35 > 0:44:39out if he'll be charged for causing the deaths of Ajmit's mum and uncle.
0:44:39 > 0:44:43Are you ready, Courtney? Do you understand why you're here?
0:44:43 > 0:44:46'I can see a real difference in him since he's watched the CCTV.
0:44:47 > 0:44:50'But a charge could prematurely end his dreams
0:44:50 > 0:44:52'of being a Premiership footballer.'
0:44:52 > 0:44:56- How are you feeling? - Just loads of different emotions.
0:44:56 > 0:44:58Just scared.
0:44:58 > 0:45:00Scared of what? The charge?
0:45:00 > 0:45:05Everything. Since it's happened, I'm scared of everything.
0:45:05 > 0:45:09It's hard cos I try not to cry for my mum and stuff.
0:45:15 > 0:45:18There are two offences that he could face.
0:45:18 > 0:45:22The most serious has a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.
0:45:22 > 0:45:24Are you aware that what you were driving
0:45:24 > 0:45:26is basically a two-tonne weapon?
0:45:26 > 0:45:30No. When I first started driving, I never would have thought about that.
0:45:30 > 0:45:34Like now when I think about it, I wish I never drive...drove, ever.
0:45:34 > 0:45:36- Really?- Yeah.
0:45:36 > 0:45:38I wouldn't be bothered if I never was allowed to drive again.
0:45:38 > 0:45:40But you have to live with the consequences
0:45:40 > 0:45:43of one moment for the rest of your life.
0:45:43 > 0:45:45And when you say the rest of your life,
0:45:45 > 0:45:48- it actually is the rest of your life. - The rest of your life.
0:45:48 > 0:45:50I just wish I didn't have to go through this.
0:45:50 > 0:45:52This it took for me to realise it.
0:45:54 > 0:45:57Right, you're charged with the following offences -
0:45:57 > 0:46:00on 1st September 2012, the cause of death by driving...
0:46:00 > 0:46:02He's been charged with the lesser offence,
0:46:02 > 0:46:05but could still go to prison for five years.
0:46:05 > 0:46:10Despite what he's done, I can't help feeling some sympathy for Courtney.
0:46:10 > 0:46:14I know what it's like to be 18 and to have driven too fast.
0:46:14 > 0:46:18My actions left me in my chair. But his have left Harveen
0:46:18 > 0:46:21and Ajmit without their mother and uncle.
0:46:21 > 0:46:24He's been given the power to kill someone and he doesn't know it.
0:46:24 > 0:46:27For me, it's like, you know, a kid picking up a gun and not really
0:46:27 > 0:46:29knowing what it could do, and then pulling the trigger.
0:46:29 > 0:46:33It's just... He's just a kid and he's going to have to pay for it.
0:46:37 > 0:46:40Two weeks later, Courtney pleads guilty.
0:46:40 > 0:46:44He'll appear in crown court to find out if he's going to prison.
0:46:44 > 0:46:47He's gone from having the world at his feet to risking losing it all,
0:46:47 > 0:46:50thanks to one moment of thoughtlessness...
0:46:53 > 0:46:56..a moment he'll relive in his head over and over again,
0:46:56 > 0:46:58just like I do.
0:47:01 > 0:47:04And though I'm happy with my life now, it's not been easy
0:47:04 > 0:47:07to accept that all it takes is one single instant
0:47:07 > 0:47:09for things to change forever.
0:47:13 > 0:47:15- And yourself, Sophie?- What?
0:47:15 > 0:47:18Do you like Glasgow so far?
0:47:18 > 0:47:21My fiance Tom and I have been together for six years
0:47:21 > 0:47:24but he's never seen me walk.
0:47:24 > 0:47:25Look!
0:47:29 > 0:47:30Look at me.
0:47:34 > 0:47:37You're very graceful actually, the way you move.
0:47:39 > 0:47:41I just want to shout at me. Like, jump in there.
0:47:41 > 0:47:44Tell me to stop. Don't get in the car.
0:47:45 > 0:47:48Seeing myself like that is weird.
0:47:48 > 0:47:50- Does it make you...?- Makes me sad.
0:47:50 > 0:47:52- Watching that again?- Yeah.
0:47:53 > 0:47:56I should be walking now, not watching it in a video.
0:47:56 > 0:47:59And there shouldn't be parents out there who are watching
0:47:59 > 0:48:03their dead kids in videos. This shouldn't be the way it is.
0:48:03 > 0:48:07There are lots of ideas on how to bring down the number of accidents
0:48:07 > 0:48:11involving young drivers. And a growing campaign to put restrictions
0:48:11 > 0:48:14on those who've just passed their test, perhaps by limiting how many
0:48:14 > 0:48:19people can be in the car, or how much driving can be done at night.
0:48:19 > 0:48:22The Government is seriously considering this as an option.
0:48:22 > 0:48:24These kind of restrictions are already
0:48:24 > 0:48:27imposed on drivers in countries like America and Australia.
0:48:27 > 0:48:31And in Northern Ireland, new drivers can't go faster than 45 mph.
0:48:33 > 0:48:36I don't know why people think the answer is to ban young people
0:48:36 > 0:48:39from doing more and more things after they've passed their test.
0:48:39 > 0:48:44What they're saying is they're going to enforce these restrictions on us.
0:48:44 > 0:48:47A solution in my mind is educate people better, from the beginning.
0:48:47 > 0:48:51We need to get people behind the car and behind the wheel,
0:48:51 > 0:48:56and we need to get us learning from the beginning, experiencing
0:48:56 > 0:48:59things like skidding and corrective steering so that they're able to
0:48:59 > 0:49:03experience that, actually practise that, before they get on the road.
0:49:06 > 0:49:08There are many who argue we should start learning
0:49:08 > 0:49:12to drive at a younger age and do it for longer,
0:49:12 > 0:49:16and already there are schemes to introduce 16 to 18-year-olds
0:49:16 > 0:49:18to the realities and responsibilities
0:49:18 > 0:49:19of being on the road.
0:49:20 > 0:49:23An initiative set up by Surrey Fire and Rescue Service
0:49:23 > 0:49:26called Safe Drive Stay Alive puts on regular shows
0:49:26 > 0:49:29that start with the feel of a night out.
0:49:29 > 0:49:32With loud music and DJs, it's like having the radio turned up
0:49:32 > 0:49:34to the max in your first car...
0:49:37 > 0:49:41..but then come hard-hitting films and real-life testimonies
0:49:41 > 0:49:45to show what can happen if a driver loses control for just a second.
0:49:49 > 0:49:53When they hit the tree, she took full impact at 80 mph.
0:49:55 > 0:49:58That girl in that car was my beautiful daughter Kelly.
0:50:00 > 0:50:02Every year, I miss her more and more.
0:50:03 > 0:50:05And it doesn't get any better.
0:50:07 > 0:50:10There are similar events in other parts of the country,
0:50:10 > 0:50:13but since this one in Surrey started in 2005,
0:50:13 > 0:50:18it's had massive success, helping reduce the fatalities by 70%.
0:50:18 > 0:50:19A lot more people should see it
0:50:19 > 0:50:22because it's definitely changed the way I think about driving.
0:50:22 > 0:50:24I'm going to be a lot more responsible now.
0:50:24 > 0:50:27If I have a passenger, I'll definitely make sure that they
0:50:27 > 0:50:30wear a seat belt as well as me cos it's my responsibility
0:50:30 > 0:50:32of looking after the people in the car.
0:50:32 > 0:50:35You have to see that cos it's like an added skill on what you
0:50:35 > 0:50:37learn from driving, is to stay aware.
0:50:38 > 0:50:41The last thing I remember is holding him in my arms
0:50:41 > 0:50:43and begging him not to leave me.
0:50:44 > 0:50:47Please, God, don't let him die!
0:50:49 > 0:50:51Erik David Rain was 20 years old.
0:50:53 > 0:50:55I'd known him since I was five years old,
0:50:55 > 0:50:58for 15 years, and he was my best friend.
0:51:00 > 0:51:02My only job that night as the driver was to get
0:51:02 > 0:51:06the people in my car safely to where they were meant to be going,
0:51:06 > 0:51:08and I failed at that.
0:51:08 > 0:51:10APPLAUSE
0:51:10 > 0:51:14For the people watching, this is incredibly powerful,
0:51:14 > 0:51:18but I think it's exactly what they need, and it works.
0:51:18 > 0:51:20This really does save lives.
0:51:20 > 0:51:23It makes me angry that I didn't have something like this
0:51:23 > 0:51:24when I was learning.
0:51:25 > 0:51:28But it makes me happy that young people are learning
0:51:28 > 0:51:33and they've got things like this available to them.
0:51:35 > 0:51:39It's annoying it's too late for some of us.
0:51:45 > 0:51:48Maybe if Courtney Meppen-Walter had better understood
0:51:48 > 0:51:52the dangers of driving, he wouldn't be facing prison.
0:51:54 > 0:51:56It's six months since the accident,
0:51:56 > 0:52:00and Ajmit is continuing his recovery, out of hospital.
0:52:00 > 0:52:02He now knows his mum is dead,
0:52:02 > 0:52:06and the brothers are living in their new home with their Uncle Gawa.
0:52:08 > 0:52:11So how's it been since you've come out of hospital?
0:52:11 > 0:52:14- It's been really good. - You look really, really well.
0:52:14 > 0:52:16- Yeah.- Is it nice being in this house?- Yeah, it is.
0:52:16 > 0:52:19- With your brother?- Mm.
0:52:19 > 0:52:20What about you, Harveen?
0:52:20 > 0:52:23Did you ever believe he'd make it home?
0:52:23 > 0:52:24No.
0:52:26 > 0:52:31It's like magic. And he's back to a normal life.
0:52:31 > 0:52:35And he can go... he can do, like, normal things.
0:52:35 > 0:52:39What do you think of Courtney? Do you think he's a bad man?
0:52:39 > 0:52:44As the police said, he didn't want it to be a big accident.
0:52:44 > 0:52:48But if he'd drive 30-mile speed, then it's nothing going to happen.
0:52:48 > 0:52:51No-one's going to die.
0:52:51 > 0:52:56He was just showing off. But he's ruined my family's life,
0:52:56 > 0:53:00Gawa's family, my granddad and grandma's family, Kulwan family
0:53:00 > 0:53:02and everything.
0:53:02 > 0:53:05About four or five families.
0:53:05 > 0:53:08We are just left with the tears.
0:53:08 > 0:53:11Every second, every day, every minute,
0:53:11 > 0:53:13we are thinking about them and crying.
0:53:21 > 0:53:24A week later, it's Courtney's day in court.
0:53:29 > 0:53:31Move out the way!
0:53:33 > 0:53:35He cried as he listened to the judge
0:53:35 > 0:53:37describe the devastation he'd caused.
0:53:38 > 0:53:41Courtney was sentenced to 16 months in prison.
0:53:41 > 0:53:43It's really hard to watch.
0:53:43 > 0:53:47Watching Courtney just sobbing his eyes out, but then also turning
0:53:47 > 0:53:50and seeing a widow on the other side.
0:53:50 > 0:53:54I'm so conflicted and so torn in how I feel.
0:53:55 > 0:53:58It's heartbreaking, it's so horrible.
0:54:00 > 0:54:05Everyone involved in a traffic collision is a victim in some way.
0:54:05 > 0:54:07There are no winners.
0:54:07 > 0:54:10But Courtney can look forward to the day he's back with his family,
0:54:10 > 0:54:13maybe playing football, even driving again.
0:54:13 > 0:54:17Harveen and Ajmit will never get back what they've lost.
0:54:17 > 0:54:20That's where the crash happened, here.
0:54:20 > 0:54:23And he hit, he came out of here, didn't he?
0:54:23 > 0:54:26I wonder how full he is with regret that he came this way, that he
0:54:26 > 0:54:27drove that way, that he...
0:54:29 > 0:54:33..that he was where he was, and how he was that night.
0:54:35 > 0:54:38I bet he replays it a lot in his head.
0:54:40 > 0:54:42At the start of July, after serving just over
0:54:42 > 0:54:47a quarter of his 16-month sentence, Courtney was released from prison.
0:54:47 > 0:54:50Pictures were tweeted of him smiling as he walked free
0:54:50 > 0:54:53and of a poem he is said to have written inside,
0:54:53 > 0:54:55about wishing he could turn back the clock.
0:54:55 > 0:54:58But later same day the Prison Service admitted
0:54:58 > 0:55:01he'd been released in error, so Courtney was sent back
0:55:01 > 0:55:04to the prison he thought he'd left for good.
0:55:04 > 0:55:08The Singh family said the mistake had only caused them further distress.
0:55:08 > 0:55:13But in any case, they don't consider the full sentence to be justice for the two people that died.
0:55:17 > 0:55:19I'm back where I started - at a car cruise,
0:55:19 > 0:55:21but this one is different.
0:55:21 > 0:55:25It's in memory of Ryan Smith, the 18-year-old biker
0:55:25 > 0:55:28killed along with Leah Davis in a head-on collision.
0:55:32 > 0:55:34Hundreds of Ryan's family
0:55:34 > 0:55:36and friends have turned out to remember him.
0:55:44 > 0:55:47But it makes me remember ALL the victims of traffic accidents.
0:55:47 > 0:55:50Whether they've been hit, or they were driving,
0:55:50 > 0:55:54it's such a tragic waste to see so many young lives destroyed
0:55:54 > 0:55:57because of one brief, irreversible moment.
0:56:01 > 0:56:03Making this film has been the hardest thing I've done
0:56:03 > 0:56:05since my accident.
0:56:06 > 0:56:11It's taken me back to the most important day of my life
0:56:11 > 0:56:13and it's made me re-think it.
0:56:17 > 0:56:23The fact is...we aren't preparing people for the road.
0:56:23 > 0:56:29We've got to do more so that people like Courtney don't go out
0:56:29 > 0:56:34and kill people, and people like me don't go out
0:56:34 > 0:56:36and paralyse themselves.
0:56:36 > 0:56:40We're just making such terrible mistakes, and they can't be undone.
0:57:12 > 0:57:13Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd