(14 Feb 05)

The Association of British Drivers has reacted strongly to a series of Valentine-style cards sent by the London Safety Camera Partnership to young drivers in the area. The picture is of an overturned crashed car that has hit a tree, and the message inside the card is "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to kill you. I was driving too fast. I really miss you."

"How low can these people sink?" asks Association Chairman Brian Gregory. "One can imagine happy youngsters opening their mail with the excitement of receiving a valentine card from a girlfriend, boyfriend or admirer - only to be confronted with this.

"The most horrifying aspect is that it is likely that some of those receiving this card will have lost a loved one. One can only begin to imagine the anguish and upset such a cruel trick will cause."

"We have for years been attempting to persuade the authorities to send out genuinely useful road safety advice such as how to predict hazards and adjust speed to suit," adds the ABD's road safety spokesman Mark McArthur Christie. "This would be a valuable exercise as most of the small number of accidents contributed to by excessive speed occur entirely within the speed limit.

"But the Government is only interested in 'driving by numbers' and scaring/punishing drivers into complying with limits whilst not showing the slightest interest in tackling the real problem of dangerous and careless driving."

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