It may be worthwhile to investigate the effectiveness of limiting the hp of one's vehicle based on driving experience regardless of age.
Personally I think the laws were fine just the way they are, but you raise an interesting point, maybe a revision to graduated licensing?
It would've been better if the kid's car had been taken away when he showed such irresponsibility, but by his father. He could've stopped it, but didn't. Now all young/inexperienced drivers are going to pay. At least the media is starting to blast the government for it now.
Germany has a four year driver education course as part of their regular school cirriculum, or at least it used to. That is why more than half of the Autobahn can have no posted speed limit but it has the lowest collision rate of any major road network in the world. It takes a long time to get a driver's licence there, but it's part of your school work. They get considerably more freedom with their driving than we do because of it. If the government really wanted to prevent future crashes like the one that started this thread, they'd look at such a process. But they won't. Too much thinking involved.