A ROAD safety campaign painting animals with warning signs was launched yesterday as figures revealed that country roads were more deadly than motorways last year.

New statistics from the Department of Transport showed that 36 people lost their lives on rural roads in the North-East in 2014 and a further 321 people were seriously injured.

They revealed that there were ten times more fatalities on country roads than motorways last year, with 1,040 people killed and 9,051 seriously injured.

In response, THINK! has launched the campaign ‘Helpful Hazards’ which features animals and vehicles sprayed with warning signs prompting drivers to slow down, anticipate hazards and brake before the bend.

Fatalities were among the highest in North Yorkshire, with 39 people killed and 310 seriously injured.

In County Durham 14 people were killed with 103 people seriously injured, while two were killed with seven people seriously injured in Darlington.

Despite a third of fatalities occurring around a bend, 31 per cent of drivers in the North-East admitted to braking too late on bends and 48 per cent claimed to have swerved to avoid something in the road.

The problem is most acute among young drivers, with a third confessing to braking too late before a bend and more than one in ten admitting to ‘taking the racing line’ by crossing into the opposite side of the road to take a turn faster.

Former England rugby player Phil Vickery said in support of the campaign: “As someone who lives in the countryside, I do a lot of driving on winding country roads every day. I’m often shocked at the lack of care other drivers take when driving around blind bends. Both my wife and I have been involved in several near misses, and minor incidents, so this is something very close to my heart.

"You never know what might be around the corner - from cyclists, horse riders and wildlife to debris and slow-moving vehicles, we all have a duty of care to be respectful to all users of the countryside and keep each other safe.”

North Yorkshire County Council’s executive member for road safety, Cllr Don Mackenzie said: “We welcome this new national campaign. Every death on our roads is a death too many and though we are therefore pleased that the number of fatalities is falling there is more that we have to do and so we wholly support this Department for Transport campaign as it meets our own priorities."

Road safety minister, Andrew Jones said: “Every injury and death on our roads is a tragedy and that is why the new THINK! country road campaign is so important. We want the public to anticipate potential hazards on the road when driving in the countryside, to watch their speed and take care when approaching a bend.”