‘Don’t just be a safe driver be a sociable one as well’ - that is the message from at the start of a new county council led campaign which is promoting  safe and sociable attitudes among road users.

Drivers of all ages and experience are being  encouraged to join in with the ‘safe and sociable ethos’ to improve road safety by influencing other road users through their own habits and experience.

Working on the principle that courtesy breeds courtesy, the aim is to encourage motorists to think of others and by doing-so share the roads with a greater degree of confidence and safety.

Cabinet member for fire, planning and infrastructure at Gloucestershire County Council Will Windsor Clive, said: “Traditional road safety campaigns have tended to focus on negative messages and are developed on the presumption that the majority of drivers disregard the rules of the road and have a low regard for their fellow traveller.

“This simply isn’t true; most drivers just want to get from A to B without harming or frightening anyone and in the most stress free and calm way, and we want drivers to adopt the principles of the campaign and to encourage awareness of it, and its identity, as widely as possible.

“An increased awareness of how individual behaviour affects others on the road this can be positive as well as negative.”

The Road Safety Partnership is made up of Gloucestershire County Council, Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service, the police and Police and Crime Commissioner.

Police and Crime Commissioner Martin Surl said, “This will be a gradual process to encourage social change in driving and to help develop a road using culture that demonstrates respect and care for others.

“We know that a sizeable proportion of the road using public do their very best to keep within the law and behave in a safe and social way, but it is also apparent that a minority still pose a significant risk by making inappropriate choices, and sadly our casualty statistics prove this.

“If we all behave in a polite and respectful way whilst driving, it will make travelling through our beautiful county a more enjoyable and safer experience and decrease the likelihood of being involved in a road traffic collision”.