Drivers are being urged by road safety experts to think about the dangers of driving too fast for road conditions in a new THINK! campaign.

The new THINK! campaign, “Is pushing it worth it?” is targeted at young male drivers, as statistics show male drivers aged 17 to 24 are 4 times more likely to be killed or seriously injured than drivers aged 25 or over. Research findings also show that 60% of all serious and fatal collisions involving young male car drivers were on rural roads.

Safety experts raise further concerns as less than half (43%) of young men consider exceeding the speed limit to be unacceptable, while over two thirds (68%) see drink driving as unacceptable and over half (52%) think using a mobile without handsfree is unacceptable.

Richard Holden, Road Safety Minister, said:

"Road safety is our priority, but we want to accelerate our efforts to tackle unsafe driving habits and create some of the safest roads in the world.

"We’re highlighting the dangers of relaxed driving attitudes on rural roads so that everyone recognises that pushing the speed limit is just not worth it."

Dr Gemma Briggs, Professor of Applied Cognitive Psychology at the Open University, said:

"Most drivers consider themselves to be ‘better than average’ at driving. This can make drivers feel that while others shouldn’t speed, their own increased skill means they can handle a bit of extra speed, and every journey completed seemingly without incident for a speeding driver confirms to them that their behaviour is acceptable, even if they endanger others."