Emma Rolfe, 17, and Kelly Wale, 15, spoke to The Bucks Herald about the crash which has left them physically and mentally scarred. Later in the year, the pair hope to work with Bucks Fire and Rescue on a road safety campaign.

On Saturday February 23, Emma, Kelly and another passenger were being driven by their friend Daryl Hewitt along Bulbourne Road in Tring when the Citroen Saxo he was driving was in collision with an oncoming lorry.

Emma, who was sitting behind Daryl in the car, recalled the night.

She said: "We were going along the Bulbourne Road and we came up to the corner and I saw the lights...that's the last thing I remember until I woke up in recovery. They told me a couple of days later that Daryl was dead." She was cut out of the car and airlifted to the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford where she was treated for a broken femur and two fractured arms. She still uses crutches and the metal pins and plates in her leg are going to remain there for the time being. She spends much of her time in counselling and physiotherapy and knows that her leg, which could take up to six months to heal, will cause her problems in the future as one leg is now shorter than the other.

Kelly sustained three broken ribs, deep bruising on her side and a broken elbow. She has had two operations on her elbow and will need another one in the future.

Kelly said: "The doctors said I could lose 20 to 25 per cent of the movement in my arm."

The night in which Kelly, Emma and the third passenger lost their friend still haunts them - especially before bedtime, they said.

Kelly continued: "I remember going to the bridge and around the corner. I remember seeing head lights - it happened so quickly. I remember going into the ditch and everything went blank. I heard Emma screaming and I couldn't breathe because my seatbelt was so tight. A man came over and managed to get me out but from then I can't remember."

Emma's mother vividly spoke of the moment she saw the crash scene and the flashing lights of the emergency vehicles - an image which she says will never leave her memory.

"There was nothing left of the car but I couldn't go up to the car itself. We turned the corner and saw all the lights. For two hours we had to stand and watch our daughter being cut out the car, not knowing whether she was dead or alive," said Mrs Rolfe.

Nearly three months on, both Emma and Kelly are beginning to get their shattered lives back on track. Emma, who was in the middle of a travel and tourism course at Aylesbury College has been told she needs to re-sit the course because of the work she has missed.

Kelly has returned to her school, Cottesloe where she was studying for her GCSEs. "I'm not disappointed," said Kelly, "just annoyed that my injuries affect my dance and design technology work. I have missed a lot of coursework."

The Thames Valley boasts a dropping rate of road crash fatalities, but Emma and Kelly have a clear message to send out to other young drivers. There were 118 road deaths in the Thames Valley in 2007 and although this means a 17.5 per cent reduction from the previous year, 32 of the 118 killed were under 25.

Emma and Kelly knew Daryl for a long time and are now having to come to terms with their loss. "They didn't tell me Daryl was dead for a few days because I was still in shock," said Kelly.

"He was always happy and known as a legend. He was always kind and never moaned and would do anything for anyone - he loved his music and his basketball," added Emma.

Mrs Rolfe concluded: "Everytime I see a young driver speed off, I want to grab them and take them up to the shrine (at the crash site) and ask them how they would feel having their mum stand over them and watching them being cut from the wreckage."