By Craig Smith and Cheryl Wood

POLICE IN Fife will plough significant resources into their efforts to curb the number of young people killed or seriously injured on the region’s roads, The Courier understands.

The force is expected to announce a raft of new measures aimed to encourage motorists to take greater responsibility for their actions on the road.

While the campaign will target drivers and passengers of all ages, recent tragedies will no doubt shift the focus towards younger people.

National statistics show that road crashes are the biggest killer of 15 to 24-year-olds in Britain, while around one in five drivers are involved in a crash within their first year of driving.

Of the 12 deaths on Fife’s roads so far this year, nine of the victims have been under the age of 25.

Head of road policing in Fife Chief Inspector Alex Duncan stressed his officers will use every measure available to them in a bid to cut the number of casualties in the coming months.

“Our figures completely tie in with the UK statistics and we want to send a strong message out to drivers that enough is enough,” he said.

“We’ve tried to make a difference by trying to educate people and encouraging them to take more care, but we need to do more.

“If it’s going to take a lot more of our resources to save just one life then that’s what we’re going to do, and all of my staff will be spending every working minute trying to track down these irresponsible drivers.

“Ultimately the driver is responsible for his safety and the safety of those in the vehicle but, at the same time, I would like to think that people in cars are big enough to say to the driver, ‘Slow down’.”

He continued, “We’re not trying to demonise young drivers—far from it—but we do want to demonise young irresponsible drivers—there’s a difference.

“We know where these drivers are, and wherever they go we’ll be coming after them.”

The campaign comes as Fife police confirmed it was looking into reports several young drivers had been using the internet to show off dangerous driving at high speeds in various parts of the region.

Videos posted on YouTube show young drivers racing on the likes of Kirkcaldy Esplanade.

Chief Inspector Duncan revealed officers were examining the footage and were doing all they could to identify the drivers.

“There’s nothing we can do as far as the clips appearing is concerned—anyone can put anything on the internet now, and much of it is ethically wrong,” he said.

“It’s impossible to control, but we’ve got to try and police it as much as we can—it is a source of intelligence for us, and if we see something that constitutes an offence, we will look into it.”

It is now just over a week since the latest deaths on Fife’s roads.

Ally Caird (21), James Rankin (21) and David Rodger (20) lost their lives when the car they were travelling in left the B925 and smashed into a tree on August 10.

Fife recorded its lowest level of overall road casualties in 2006—falling from 927 in 2005 to 910 last year.

However, the number of people killed or seriously injured last year rose to 210, compared to 187 in the previous year.

A call for Pass Plus driving classes to be made mandatory has been repeated following the death of the three youngsters.

Cecil Ritchie, who campaigns for wider use of the scheme that teaches new motorists extra driving skills, said many lives could be saved and serious injuries prevented if people were required to take the course after passing their driving tests.

Pass Plus teaches skills that are not covered in the standard driving test, including driving at night, on motorways and rural roads, and in adverse weather conditions.

Mr Ritchie, a pensioner from Cellardyke, began promoting it after he was involved in a head-on collision over a decade ago in which his wife suffered a broken neck.

Several local authority areas in Scotland–including Fife—already provide the scheme. A total of 341 people enrolled for the course run by Fife Constabulary last year.

Mr Ritchie said, “If you address a group of mothers and grandmothers with a 17-year-old in the family, before you finish describing Pass Plus they insist it should be mandatory.

“The 341 people who took the course last year are armed with skills which mean they can drive in darkness and if, in a sudden downpour, they spot a hazard, they have the confidence and skill to avoid it.”

Fife police has set itself a target of enlisting 1200 new drivers to take Pass Plus this year.

In Scotland last year 29% of road accident casualties were aged between 17 and 25—a figure Mr Ritchie said should be closer to 10%.

He claimed, “If all new drivers are offered the course, we can reduce casualties in Scotland by 500.”

He also pointed to a study that concluded the blameworthiness of a new driver involved in an accident was reduced by 27.5% if he or she had taken the Pass Plus course.