Crash victim's road safety campaign goes global

The mother of a 17-year-old boy killed in a car crash said she was "overwhelmed" by demand for homemade blue ribbons representing a road safety campaign in his memory.

Max Greenhouse, of Lydiate, Merseyside, was a passenger when the car he was travelling in hit a farm building on Fir Tree Lane in Aughton, Lancashire, in December.

Alison Greenhouse said the family had made nearly 1,000 ribbons to raise awareness for the Max's Mission campaign, which supports graduated driving licences for newly qualified drivers.

She said she was "really surprised" by the levels of support, especially from young people, with ribbons appearing not just all over Lydiate and Maghull but across the world.

Max's family is part of the Forget Me Not Families Uniting campaign group.

Members have lost loved ones in crashes involving young drivers.

They want restrictions including a ban on 17 to 19-year-olds from carrying passengers, a late-night driving curfew for the first six months after a driver passes their test, and a minimum learning period.

Ms Greenhouse said the family wanted to prevent others from having to endure the heartache they have experienced.

"We wouldn't wish this on anybody. If we even saved one life, it would be a positive change," the 47-year-old said.

She said young people had really taken the campaign on board and the ribbons were "on signage, lampposts, everywhere" locally.

Many people had asked for Max's Mission ribbons to take on holiday with them.

Ms Greenhouse said they had spread as far afield as Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, the United States, and Australia.

She said Max, a promising DJ, "had a real zest for life" and had crammed so much into his 17 years.

"He loved life. He had such a big heart. He had a heart of gold," added Max's mum.

She said Max had passed his theory test and was taking lessons.

She stressed the campaign for graduated driving licences was "not about punishing" young drivers but about making sure they were "safe and competent drivers".

As part of Max's Mission, his family, including his 77-year-old grandmother, are staging a four-mile walk to raise awareness of the campaign to improve road safety.

The walk is set to start at 12:00 BST on 26 April, and go from Central Square in Maghull to Ormskirk town centre.

"It was initially just the family but loads of people from the community have asked to join," she said.

"The support has been amazing. It's been overwhelming."

Lancashire Police said inquiries were "ongoing" into the crash and there had been no arrests or charges.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.