REMOVING roadside floral memorials left to remember accident victims could be one of the measures introduced in an effort to reduce carnage on North Yorkshire's roads.

A report by a highways committee of North Yorkshire County Council was commissioned following the grim toll of fatal motorcycle accidents on some local roads, but was later broadened to take in all types of accident.

Suggestions in the report for reducing serious and fatal accidents range from advanced driver education, to encouraging the police to publicise their power to seize the vehicles of offenders, to ensuring road safety lessons for all children are free. On roadside tributes it says: "In recent years memorials have been placed at the site of road accidents.

"While those placing the memorials, usually flowers, consider it an act of remembrance for the victims, the memorial can be a distraction and might contribute to an accident."

The committee proposes that a time limit be imposed on roadside floral tributes. After that time they would be removed and a small notice put in place giving reasons why it has been moved.

The idea was welcomed by Janet Warin, of Pickering, whose 17-year-old son Daniel died in a road accident eight years ago.

She said: "I get really upset when I see lots of dead flowers by the side of the road. Flowers are lovely to pay tribute when they're all nice and fresh, but when they're dead and withered away I think it looks awful. I also think they cause a distraction for drivers."

The report also highlights the issue of driver tiredness, particularly following the Great Heck disaster. It found that people were driving further for work and leisure and this presented a greater risk of driving when tired.

The council may also suggest to the Government that users of motorised wheelchairs be required to undergo training in their use and be encouraged to avoid travelling on roads unless it is unavoidable.

The county council's road safety targets include reducing the number of people killed or seriously injured by 40 per cent by 2010 to 622, based on the 1994 to 1998 baseline average of 10,037.

A second target is to reduce the number of children killed or seriously injured by 60 per cent by 210, which is 54 based on a baseline of 108.

Committee chairman Coun John Fletcher said the council was seriously engaged in implementing measures to reduce fatal and serious injury traffic accidents in the county, which were not just a matter of police enforcement but a community issue.

Updated: 10:52 Thursday, December 04, 2003