The father of a 21-year-old car passenger who died when he was not wearing a seatbelt has warned others not to take the same risk - and called for laws allowing pub landlords to take away keys.

Samuel Mcneil, was a passenger in a car being driven by a friend who was over the drink drive limit and speeding at the time of the accident. Both men had been drinking for several hours in a local pub before the horror crash.

Dad, Davy, 49, of Horninglow, and his family were left devastated when Samuel, a talented structural engineer, died in the crash in Overseal on December 16, 2016.

Samuel was a passenger in a car driven by Alex Smith, from Stapenhill, who was later jailed for almost seven years after pleading guilty to a charge of causing death by dangerous driving.

Samuel was just 21 when he died in a horror car crash

Now Samuel’s family have spoken about the importance of putting safety first when on the roads as they appealed to people to always wear their seatbelts - and have called for pub licensees to be given the legal right to remove car keys from customers.

The family agree it cannot be known for definite if a seatbelt would have saved Samuel given the circumstances of the crash. But the thought that had he been wearing one he might have survived will always stay with the family, they say.

Mr Mcneil said: "We are fully aware of the circumstances surrounding Samuel’s death and we know that it could have been prevented in many ways.

"We are not fools and Samuel getting into the car, drinking, not putting his belt on is not in question here, but we just don’t know why he did that and want to stop others from making the same mistakes.

"Since the crash we have had a lot of young people telling us they didn't see the danger of not wearing a belt but now they have become more seatbelt-aware since Samuel died.

"If anything good can come out of this it is that people sit up and listen, because we know the impact of dangerous driving and we will have to live with that and without Samuel for the rest of our lives."

Mr Mcneil said that his son was not at fault for being drunk as he was not driving, and that not putting on a belt "did not mean he deserved to get his life taken.

"It is hard to say with young people why he wasn’t wearing a belt but Samuel was 21 and one week old and I think that is what he was being; he didn’t deserve to die.

"I can remember being that age and I can remember what I was like, you have to make sure you can trust the people you are with because you don’t know what situation you are going to walk into.

"We want to spread the message to young people to look after each other and to do all they can to ensure their friends are safe.

"The most important thing to remember is that one less drink is the money for a taxi home; if you have enough money to go drinking, have one less pint and you can afford a taxi to make sure you get home safely."

Davy Mcneil has issued a stark warning to people to always wear their seatbelts
Samuel Mcneil's dad Davy

During the court case one staff member at the pub where the pair were drinking told police both men had been in there for several hours and had had a significant amount of alcohol. It was estimated they had between six and 10 pints of lager each and five glasses of Jägermeister and Redbull (known as a Jagerbomb) each.

Samuel’s family say that pub owners and alcohol sellers should be given more responsibility when it comes to stopping those under the influence from driving.

Mr Mcneil said: "I know how Samuel was and I bet they were practically dancing on tables after having that much to drink. It should be the same as it is in Scotland here. There should be zero tolerance when it comes to drinking and driving.

"That pub that you are in is not the last pub or the only one, you can go home first and return or head into town but do it safely - get a taxi.

"Car insurance companies put those aged between 17 and 25 as the most dangerous and at risk, so why are we not doing more to take those options away?

"I think pubs should have more responsibility and should be able to take your keys. They are selling the alcohol so let them have some control. If not we are dealing in death.

Tributes have been left at the side of the road, where an accident occurred on the A444 in Overseal
Tributes were left at the side of the road following Samuel Mcneil's death

"It is not the pub’s fault that Samuel died but if we are going to stop this tragedy from happening again we need to think outside of the box and we need to be looking after each other – it is so simple."

Joshua Harris, director of campaigns at road safety charity Brake, said: "Wearing a seatbelt is required by law and that is because seatbelts are proven to save lives; evidence has shown that in a crash you are twice as likely to die if you don’t wear a seatbelt.

"We applaud all road safety campaigners who work tirelessly to ensure that others don’t suffer the same devastation that has affected their families and the work of Samuel Mcneil's family to raise awareness around seat belt use is truly commendable."

Do seatbelts really save lives?

Seat belts are designed to retain people in their seats during a crash, and so prevent or reduce injuries. They minimise contact between the occupant and vehicle interior and significantly reduce the risk of being ejected from the vehicle.

On modern vehicles, seatbelts are also designed to work as the key part of wider injury prevention measures and safety systems, such as airbags and head restraints, which will not be as effective in reducing the risk of injury if an occupant is not wearing a seat belt.

Car occupants form 60 per cent of all road casualties in Britain. In 2016, 109,046 people were killed or injured while travelling in cars, of these 74,589 (74 per cent) were drivers.

Car Occupant Casualties in Great Britain in 2017

Driver Passenger All Occupants
Killed 552 264 816
Seriously Injured 5,977 2,998 8,975
Slightly Injured 68,060 31,195 99,255
All Casualties 74,589 34,457 109,046

In 2011, of the 883 people killed while travelling in cars, 788 were drivers or front seat passengers and 92 were rear seat passengers.

In Great Britain, seatbelt wearing rates are very high. Almost all (95 per cent) car drivers and front seat passengers wear seatbelts. In the rear of cars, 89 per cent of passengers wear seat belts or use child car restraints.

However, seatbelt use is lower in other vehicles where only 69 per cent of drivers and front seat passengers wear belts.

Seat belt laws in the UK

In the UK drivers and passengers in cars must wear a seatbelt, unless they have a medical exemption certificate.

Children, with few exceptions, must use an appropriate child restraint, until they are either 12 years old or 135 cm in height, at which point they must use the car’s seat belts.

It is the driver’s legal responsibility to ensure that any passenger under 14 years old is using the appropriate child restraint or an adult seat belt. Passengers 14 years old or over are legally responsible for wearing a seat belt.

Full details of the UK legal requirements for seat belts can be found at https://www.gov.uk/seat-belts-law/overview.