Parents call for a black box law

THE parents of a young dad killed in a road crash want it made compulsory for all new drivers to have a black box fitted to their cars.

Motor enthusiast Jacob Brown, 21, died almost a month after his 1991 Toyota Starlet was involved in a collision with a Range Rover.

His mum Nichola told a South Staffordshire inquest: “Because of the age of Jake’s car, he wouldn’t have been able to have a black box fitted for insurance purposes.

“It’s something we feel that all young drivers should have and for it actually to be made compulsory to have a black box fitted in their car.

“It won’t bring Jake back and, in hindsight, we should not have let him have that car, but we can’t take that back now, it’s just going forward.”

Police said CCTV footage suggested Jacob, a father of one from Dunstall, Staffs, may have been travelling at more than 60mph.

But it was stressed in the report that this was only a possibility.

The inquest also heard tyre markings at the scene suggested he lost control of his vehicle as he attempted a right-hand turn at the bend to enter onto the straight road.

Police said he reacted to the loss of control by “breaking sufficiently hard” to lock the road wheels, which resulted in restricting his ability to steer the vehicle.

Coroner Andrew Haigh concluded that Jake died as a result of an accident.

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