THE principal of Alton College has renewed her call for the minimum driving age to be raised to 18 following yet another serious road traffic incident involving young people from the college. Jane Machell's plea comes as the father of a student, who sustained life-threatening head injuries in a collision on the A31 at Bentley, expressed thanks to those who helped save her life. Martin Fisher said that although his daughter Natalie was still in intensive care, she would have died if not for the attention she received at the scene from members of the public. The collision, place last Tuesday evening (June 17) outside the Bull Inn at Bentley, saw the red Peugeot 206 that Natalie was travelling in flip onto its roof and skid across the carriageway before smashing into a telegraph pole. In The Herald's report last week, an off-duty fireman from Farnham described how one bystander climbed inside the wreckage to comfort one of the victims. Natalie Fisher, 18, had been in the front passenger seat and was taken out of the vehicle and put into a recovery position before the emergency services could arrive. The female driver of the Peugeot and other passengers suffered broken limbs and other minor injuries. "I want to thank everyone who was there at the time because these people all helped to save her life," said Mr Fisher. "Although she is still ill, those people at the scene of the crash really helped her." He went on to explain that his daughter is in a very serious but stable condition at the Neurological Intensive Care Unit in Southampton General Hospital. "She is being very well looked after by an experienced team down there, but there is no question that without the care she was given at the scene she wouldn't have made it. We're all being very optimistic and hopefully she'll pull through soon." Four of the girls involved, including Miss Fisher, are friends at Alton College and Miss Machell said that her thoughts were with them: "My staff and I are very relieved that this did not result in a fatality and our thoughts are with the families and friends of those affected." As an educationalist and a parent Mrs Machell believes in educating young drivers about the dangers of the road. She also feels that a change in driving law would help reduce the number of deaths and injuries to young people caused by road traffic collisions. "The government should raise the minimum driving age to 18, which is not an unusual view at all. I'm a parent myself and I know that many parents would share my views." She explained that Alton College now has a quiet garden, set up after the death of a student in a road collision two years ago, and has an ongoing programme of education to help young drivers understand the danger of inexperience. "We have a programme educating young drivers where we bring in the police and the DVLA to press upon young people, who often have a sense of immortality, that they are driving machines that can kill. The law in this country is far too liberal compared with some counties in the world and it needs to be changed." Anyone with information should contact Hampshire Police on 0845 0454545 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.