Young drivers are hugely over-represented in collision and traffic fatality statistics. On average, over 1,800 young male drivers and over 1,000 female passengers are killed or seriously injured in road traffic collisions in the UK every year. Male drivers aged 17-24 are three times as likely to be killed or seriously injured as a female driver.

In South Yorkshire the figures are also startling.  On average, from 2000 to 2008, the 17-24 year-old age group accounted for 32% of all people killed or seriously injured on South Yorkshire’s roads.  When you consider that the same age group only make up around 10% of the overall population it shows the extent of the problem.

Steve Betts, Communications Manager for the South Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership said:

"There is a disproportionate number of young drivers being killed and seriously injured on the roads of South Yorkshire. This campaign is aimed at making drivers think about the affects that being in a crash can have on their passengers.

The campaign also aims to encourage passengers to speak and up and tell their drivers to slow down. Quite often passengers feel uncomfortable in telling their drivers to alter the way they drive but in some instances the consequences of not doing so can be fatal."

For further details please visit the website www.safetycamera.org/valentines.