THE heartbroken dad of a teenager who died in a car driven by a 17-year-old has backed a call today to end the high death toll among passengers of young drivers.

Amjad Malik's 15-year-old son Saliq was killed when the Volkswagen Golf he was being carried in crashed into a parked car, a lamppost and a wall in Gilpin Street, Barkerend, Bradford, last September.

Pressure group the RAC Foundation today urged the new Government to tackle the issue after releasing statistics that revealed in 2013 there were 234 teenage passengers killed or seriously injured in crashes where the driver was aged 17 to 19.

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In Bradford in that year there were no deaths or serious injuries to teenage passengers where the driver was also in their teens.

However in September 2013 19-year-old Jade Best died after 27-year-old Adam Ruthven crashed in Thornton Road, Thornton.

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Last year four teenagers were killed in three separate crashes in Bradford district, said police.

Two of those involved teenage drivers, including the crash involving Mr Malik's son.

RAC Foundation director, Professor Stephen Glaister, said: "The coalition government repeatedly promised to publish a green paper on young driver safety and repeatedly failed to do so. In the meantime young people have continued to die.

"We would urge the new Government to do what the last one did not and debate the subject formally and publicly.

"The casualty figures do not cast blame for accidents, but given the disproportionate number of young drivers involved in accidents, the conclusion must be that many teenagers are being killed by the inexperience of their friends at the wheel.

"Factor in casualty figures for young drivers themselves and other people who might be involved in these accidents and the scale of the problem only gets bigger."

Mr Malik, who arranged a road safety event in memory of his son Saliq last December, said: "Yes, I would back a campaign."

He added: "Anything to do with tackling dangerous driving, I am happy.

"We want the police to get more involved, and the Council. We want the RAC and the AA talking about it. We want to get safety measures on the road.

"The more pressure the better."

Mr Malik said a reduction in the death toll of teenage car passengers would be "something good to come out of a terrible tragedy".

"I am always on Facebook regarding Saliq," said Mr Malik. "It is really hard to come back when you see your child go like that. I'm still waiting for him to come through the door.

"But Saliq is gone, Saliq is not suffering. It is the parents left behind who are suffering."

On his own plans for speed awareness initiatives, Mr Malik said: "I am getting involved with Bradford Council and the Bradford East MP and I'm going to try to organise a little group to raise awareness and go into schools and work with the fire service.

"I also have a 'Think Speed, Think Saliq' thing on Facebook. If someone sees that kind of sign at an accident hotspot, they might think twice."

He added: "What I would particularly prefer to see is speed cameras on main roads where they take pictures of drivers and the car."

Councillor Val Slater, Bradford Council’s executive member for transport, said: "I fully support the RAC’s call for urgent national consideration of this issue.

"Bradford has high and growing number of young people and as their numbers increase so will the numbers of young, relatively inexperienced drivers on our roads.

"We have seen a number of accidents locally involving young drivers which have resulted in the tragic loss of lives so clearly any initiatives that can draw attention to the issue and help to reduce and eliminate this waste of young lives and potential and reduce risks to other road users should be welcomed."

Philip Goose, senior community engagement officer at Brake, the road safety charity, said: “It is an avoidable tragedy that far too many young people die on our roads.

"We are calling on the government to introduce a graduated driver licensing system that allows new drivers to develop skill and experience gradually.

"It’s proven to work in other countries and it’s predicted it would prevent 400 deaths and serious injuries a year in the UK.

"We are also calling for better access to affordable public transport for young people and safe, convenient infrastructure for walking and cycling so that young people are presented with an alternative to getting behind the wheel."