Police want to work more closely with young drivers

Official figures recently showed a 10% increase in fatalities across the country last year compared with 2005.

Ch Supt Mike McCormick - casualty reduction spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland - said the statistics were of concern.

He said young drivers would be targeted as a group "more likely" to be involved in such crashes.

The Dumfries and Galloway police officer said there had been a rise in deaths on his region's roads - mirroring the national trend.

2006 ROAD DEATHS BY POLICE FORCE AREA Strathclyde - 96 Grampian - 62 Lothian and Borders - 42 Northern - 30 Dumfries and Galloway - 25 Tayside - 21 Fife - 19 Central - 19

He described the increase as "absolutely dreadful".

"We really want to do something about that," he said.

"We do see some focus both nationally and, to some extent, locally, about young drivers being a group of people more likely to feature in these crashes rather than other age bands.

"So we really want to work with that group."

A total of 314 people died in 2006, 28 more than the previous year.

An expert panel is now to be brought in to advise the government on safety.

Despite the rise in deaths last year, there has been a longer-term overall downward trend in road accident fatalities.