FEMALE CAR PASSENGERS AT HIGH RISK

Under the heading 'Speed Dating', the new campaign poster explains that more young women die as passengers than as drivers. The approach is intended to encourage young male drivers to slow down and to make young female passengers more aware of the dangers they face.

The poster was developed with the help of 17- and 18-year-old students from three sixth form colleges who participated in focus groups earlier this year.

The importance of getting this message across was highlighted by a 17-year-old girl called Kirsty. She e-mailed the following to the FMG project team:

'I am a 17-year-old 'girlfriend' and I think the FMG campaign is a great idea '“ I do not think drivers in my town are safe.

'There have been three deaths in our small town in the last three months, two of which were young lads '“ one of which I went to school with and the other was a best mate's brother. Both of these were passengers in two different crashes.

'After these tragic deaths a lot of girls around the town believed that many of the 'boy racers' would slow down but this is not the case. It worries me to see them still driving too fast and they do this with passengers in the car.

'I often go out in my boyfriend's car and he is very over confident of his driving and the speed he takes on with me at his side really terrifies me. I hate going out in his car so I often drive.

'It is so true that these lads cannot imagine killing themselves in a crash, they are all too confident and think it won't happen to them. But it could and they need to slow down."

Last year (2005), 231 young people aged between 17 and 25 years, were killed or seriously injured on Sussex roads. Twenty-two young people lost their lives.

Emma Rogers, SSCP Communications Manager, said: The speed dating poster is one of the most graphic we have ever used, so we are really hoping it will have the desired effect and make young people think before they get behind the steering wheel.'

The poster will be displayed in pub and club washrooms throughout Sussex for a month, starting this week.

Emma said: 'We recognise the poster image is powerful and it may upset some people, but it has been tested amongst the target age group and while they don't like it, they admitted it made them stop and think.

'This is a particularly tough audience to get through to and there's no point producing material that has no effect. We think the poster truly brings home the potential consequences of going too fast.'