Join our campaign for Ben's Law, a national ban on street racing in memory of teenagers killed by 'show-off' driver
Today the Express & Star is backing calls for Ben's Law - an outright national ban on street racing and car cruising.
We are urging readers to back Councillor Damian Corfield's call for a change in the law in memory of his son Ben by signing our online petition at chng.it/SxpmYB8gZJ.
Ben, 19, and his friend Liberty Charris, 16 were walking along Oldbury Road in Oldbury when they were hit by a high-performance Nissan Skyline driven by Dhiya Al Maamoury. Two other teenagers, Ebonie Parkes and Ethan Kilburn, were also seriously injured and taken to hospital with life-threatening and life-changing injuries.
Councillor Corfield, who lives in Sedgley, has called for a 'Ben's Law' which would make it illegal to organise, promote or attend street racing or car-cruising events anywhere in the country.
He said his son would still be with him if there had been a law in place banning the car meets.
"Ben wouldn't have gone along had there been a law against it," he said.
"As a parent who has lost his teenage son, I would urge everybody to support the introduction of Ben's Law," he said.
Councillor Corfield, a senior member of Dudley Council, spoke movingly of how Ben had hoped to follow in his footsteps as the fourth generation to run the family haulage business, something he would now never see.
"Our future's been stolen from us," said the 53-year-old.
"I didn't for one minute think I would be the parent who gets the knock on the door late at night.
"This could happen to anybody. You think it's not going to happen to you, but it does happen to people."
He said the anguish would never end for him, his wife Lynette and daughter Shannon.
"He was my only son," he said. "We had to wait seven years for him. I didn't think I would be able to have any more children, it means my family name will disappear when I die
"Ben loved his cars; he and his friends went out that night hoping for a nice, fun time, but at 11.30pm he was taken out of this world.
"They were pedestrians, they had only been there five minutes. They had seen the event advertised as a 'static car meet'."
Ben and Liberty, who lived in Upper Gornal, were killed in on November 20, 2022, at an unofficial event which had been promoted on the internet.
Al Maamoury, who was 54 at the time, drove his Nissan at speed along Oldbury Road, which has a 40mph speed limit, before losing control, and veering off the carriageway to crash into the group of people.
He was travelling at around 54 to 57mph before the collision.
Two police officers, who were patrolling locations associated with street racing in the area, were nearby and arrived within seconds of the collision.
Despite the best efforts of paramedics, Liberty and Ben were sadly pronounced dead at the scene.
Councillor Corfield said the Government also needed to make more funds available for road safety.
"Local councils do get a pot of money, but it also has to be used for resurfacing and repairs, and by the time all that is done, there is not much left," he said.
"There needs to be a separate pot for road safety measures."
He said 5G technology meant it was now possible to prevent cars from travelling at unsafe speeds, but the will had to be there for action to be taken.
Councillor Corfield said the technology platforms which were used to promote such events also needed to be held accountable.
