Martin Schmidt talks of daughter's death in 1998 road crash Martin Schmidt with a photo of his daughter Chantel. FIFTEEN years after the reckless actions of a young driver killed his 14-year-old daughter, Martin Schmidt's pain hasn't faded. Chantel Griffiths-Schmidt and friend Katie Williams, 15, were killed on March 13, 1998, on Main North Rd at Smithfield while they were passengers in a Holden Monaro. Their friend and unlicensed driver of the car, David Anthony Frick, was found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving and served one year in prison. The court heard Frick "showed off" by racing other cars at high speeds before crashing into a tree. "Even after 15 years, on her birthday there's tears, Christmas, Easter, there's always tears," Mr Schmidt, of Morphett Vale, said. Every happy occasion is always tinged with that sadness. You never get over it, you just work through it. Martin Schmidt's arm has his daughter Chantel's name tattooed on it. For the first five to eight years it is really, really hard, but in that period of time you just have to learn to live with that pain. It's hard to explain it and only another bereaved parent could ever understand. My daughter had Katie over for a sleepover on a Friday night and they were going seven houses up the road to watch videos. A friend of the family who lived at that house dropped around there and the girls, being young and impressionable, were coerced to go for a spin. They hopped in the back seat of the car and within half an hour they were dead. In sentencing Frick, who was 19 at the time of the crash, Judge Russell described the accident as "an arrogant exhibition of the worst type of driving." "Your mindless actions have resulted in two young girls, who were at the very threshold of their lives, being deprived of a wholesome life, with all its challenges, its joys and its openings for achievement and fulfilment," Judge Russell said. You can never make good, nor can you repair, the loss and grief your actions have caused to them and their families. Following the crash, Mr Schmidt campaigned for tougher sentences for those found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving, but he said parents too need to take responsibility for young drivers. "For any parent to turn a blind eye and let their kid drive a hotted-up Monaro, absolutely they should take more responsibility," he said. If Chantel had come home in a car and I knew she didn't have a licence for it, the car would never have gone further than there because the tyres would have been taken off it.