14/02/2026
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CJQfQBSkx/
96MPH.
THREE WEEKS QUALIFIED. TWO LIVES LOST.
Liberty Mitchell was 18 years old.
She had held a full driving licence for less than a month.
On 2 December 2022, travelling at 96mph in a 60mph zone on the B4425 near Aldsworth, she attempted to overtake three vehicles at once.
Seconds later, two people lost their lives.
At Gloucestershire Crown Court ,the court heard how her Mini Cooper collided with a taxi carrying Moyra
The impact triggered a four vehicle collision involving an Audi A3, a Polestar 2 and a Seat Leon.
Mr Codreanu died at the scene.
Ms Whelan later died in hospital.
Three people were taken to Southmead Hospital with major injuries.
Eight others were treated at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital
Fractured hips.
Broken ribs.
Severe internal trauma.
Survivor’s guilt.
Families shattered.
Mitchell admitted two counts of causing death by dangerous driving, causing death whilst uninsured, and three counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
The judge described her as reckless and immature, suffering from the teenage delusion of invulnerability.
This was not a mechanical failure.
Not weather.
Not poor road layout.
It was speed.
It was ego.
It was a decision.
Three weeks after passing her test.
Passing a test does not create experience.
It grants permission to continue learning alone.
This case raises uncomfortable questions:
Should new drivers face tougher graduated restrictions?
Should high powered cars be restricted for a period?
Should motorway and overtaking training be mandatory before solo driving?
Or is the real failure cultural our normalisation of speed and risk?
Young drivers are not bad people.
They are inexperienced people controlling a machine capable of irreversible consequences.
Confidence often rises faster than skill.
Two families now live with silence where laughter once was.
What changes would genuinely prevent the next one?
Sheena Ahmed
Motorvation School of Motoring
