DRIVERS were today warned they risk "horrific consequences" if they get behind the wheel while tired.

Transport Minister David Jamieson gave the grim warning at the start of a hard-hitting advertising campaign launched in the wake of the Selby rail crash - which killed ten people.

Driver Gary Hart was jailed for five years for causing death by dangerous driving.

A jury decided that Hart had fallen asleep at the wheel of his Land Rover before it plunged off the M62 into the path of an oncoming train.

Research published by the Department for Transport shows that falling asleep while driving could be a factor in ten per cent of all road accidents and up to 20 per cent of collisions on motorways or similar roads.

Now drivers are to be blitzed by television and radio advertising andposters and leaflets telling them to "Think: Don't Drive Tired".

The Highways Agency will be repeating the message on variable message signs on the motorway network.

Mr Jamieson said: "This is a powerful advertisement, aimed at highlighting the potentially tragic consequences of falling asleep at the wheel.

"Exact figures on this are difficult to quantify, but our research suggests that drivers falling asleep could be a factor in one in ten of fatal and injury accidents on our roads - resulting in some 300 deaths and many thousands of injuries a year.

"I am delighted that the Highways Agency will be using their 394 motorway message signs to reinforce and highlight this.

"It is something which every driver should consider seriously, on every journey. Falling asleep at the wheel is something which could happen to any

driver, of any age on any journey."

Kevin Clinton, head of road safety at Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, said: "The horrific crash at Selby illustrates just how catastrophic the consequences of driving when too tired can be."

The Government is also offering tips to drivers to reduce the risks of tiredness.

These include: Never start a journey if you are already feeling sleepy; try to avoid making long trips between midnight and 6 am when natural alertness is low; and stop for a 15-minute break every two hours on a long journey.

The advice also states drivers who feel sleepy should find a safe place to stop (not on the hard shoulder), drink two cups of coffee, or a high-caffeine drink; take a short nap and resume their journey 15 to 20 minutes later.

But it stresses that opening the window or turning up the radio will do little to stop you falling asleep at the wheel.

The campaign is a continuation of the work done on driver tiredness, which began as part of the Think! campaign in August 2000. The campaign has

focused mainly on radio advertising.

The new phase starting today will cost £750,000 and will run initially from today to April 7. Ministers plan to run it again later in the year.

Moto will carry advertising in their Moto, TravelLodge and RoadChef service areas, over the course of the year, and on its petrol pump nozzles from October.

Updated: 11:51 Wednesday, March 27, 2002