L-plater Allison Cardwell, 16, died when the Holden Commodore she was driving hit a tree on Baileys Road at Wangaratta South just before 9pm on Monday.

A Wangaratta man, 18, also a learner driver, was a passenger in the car but escaped the crash with cuts and grazes.

There was no supervising driver in the car.

Miss Cardwell’s mother, Belinda, said young drivers needed more education.

“Make sure that they get plenty of education before you even allow them to get an L-plate on their car, it’s just too young, 16 is just too young, it’s just not fair,” she told ABC Goulburn-Murray radio.

“I think 16 is too young to hold Ls, they’re so immature, they think they’re invincible and I really want to drive it home that schools need to be part of the education of these young kids.”

Police say Miss Cardwell lost control of the Commodore, which belonged to her passenger, on a downhill slope and it ran off the bitumen, rolled into scrub and hit a tree.

Sen-Sgt Bill Gore, of Wangaratta’s traffic management unit, said the tragic death had left officers “gobsmacked” and should act as a warning for inexperienced drivers.

“At 16 you’re not as good as you think you are — you are not indestructible,” Sen-Sgt Gore said.

“In Victoria you have to do 120 hours of driving before you can even go for your licence.

“All of these things are put there for a very good reason and, unfortunately, this just shows what can happen.

“My father who was a traffic policeman before me used to say ‘there is no substitute for experience’ and, unfortunately, that’s what seems to have occurred in this situation.”

He said he did not know what else could be done or said to stop young people dying on the roads.