"I feel so hopeless," he explains."Everyone knows who Leah Betts is and how she died," Sergeant Peck continues, "but how many people know the name of a local youngster killed by speeding? There are plenty of them, it's just that road deaths are somehow acceptable I don't see why. She doesn't tell them not to speed, she just says, "Look at me, look at my loss, don't ever do this to someone who cares about you. How would you like it to be your mum sitting here talking?"The project, started by a local policeman, Sergeant Andy Peck, is the first of its kind in Britain. Peck believes it is the most effective way of getting the message across to teenagers, and he hopes to see his Young Driver Education Project taken up throughout the country.Sergeant Peck started taking bereaved relatives to talk to local sixth- formers a year ago.

People, particularly teenagers, can't imagine it so they just switch off.When Erica comes and displays her grief to them, however, they think again. A third of accidents involving male drivers under 20 are one-car accidents.That means the driver simply lost control, drove into a tree, wall, oncoming vehicle, or flipped over. National statistics show that the risk of fatal or serious accident is six times higher for 17- to 20-year-olds than it is for over-40s.While younger drivers tend not to be drink-drivers, speed is a major killer, particularly among young men. Drink-driving has been stigmatised through advertising, and images of children, friends or partners killed through speed-driving have a big emotional impact, but the "don't kill yourself" message is harder to get across. He may have had a stereo blaring and his mates in the back to show off to, and it is almost certain he was speeding.The statistics are endless but of little use in getting the message across. "His lack of respect and disregard for that fact were what killed him."She is one of three women who have lost their teenage relatives through speed-driving on Derbyshire's roads Their loss is not unusual.

The accidents merited only a few paragraphs in the local press because a third of all car-driver casualties are aged under 25.The same group accounted for nearly 40 per cent of road casualties in Derbyshire last year. One boy is red in the face, clenching his teeth, holding back tears. Most of them have guessed before Erica explains the reason why she has come to tell them about Mark: just over a year ago her car-mad son killed himself - speeding in his new car. "Mark's dad repeatedly warned him that driving a car was like being put in control of a lethal weapon," says Erica. Despite her carefully applied make-up, her face is clearly etched with pain Her teenage audience starts to look uncomfortable Some study the floor, others squirm in their chairs. For all her pride, she looks terribly crushed - like someone who has been winded and is still trying to get her breath back. She's talking to a group of Derbyshire teenagers and you can sense their pleasure in listening to what she says.

This is probably the way their mums talk about them when they're not around to overhear. But as she talks, Erica starts to waver between the present and past tense, and the pleasure in listening to her is short-lived. Erica Thomasson is the ultimate proud mum. She shows a picture of her son, Mark, aged 18, blonde and suntanned, confident with a big grin.