Police have released hard-hitting car crash images in response to a sharp rise in the number of fatal collisions in West Yorkshire.

Accident investigators with the force are appealing to the public to ‘think for a second’ about their driving.

Officers from the Major Collision and Enquiry Team (MCET) – the unit that investigates serious and fatal road traffic collisions on the roads of West Yorkshire – have released a video after a large amount of fatal road traffic incidents this year.

The video contains images from crash scenes in the county.

West Yorkshire Police has released several hard-hitting photos in a video which urges drivers to take extra care

From the start of the year until June 30 there were 43 fatal road traffic collisions (resulting in 47 deaths) in West Yorkshire compared to 27 fatal road traffic collisions (27 deaths) for the same period last year.

Detective Chief Inspector Jim Griffiths, who is in charge of the Major Collision and Enquiry Team, said: “One of the hardest jobs a police officer has to do is to visit relatives and tell them a loved one has died.

“It is that much harder for relatives to deal with when that death could have been easily prevented. So if you have to tell a mother that her son has died because a driver was too tired and lost his concentration it makes it that bit more difficult to deal with.

'A split second error of judgement could have fatal consequences.'

“The point of this video is to ask people to stop and think about their driving or that of their loved ones.

“Sometimes we release ‘hard-hitting’ messages which very much have their place but Fiona and Ann – the two sergeants at MCET have deliberately chosen to have a conversation with people to ask them to stop and think.

“The messages are very straightforward but might be about subjects people haven’t previously thought about – can that hayfever medicine you are taking make you drowsy? If so, should you be driving? A split second error of judgement could have fatal consequences.

“We MOT our cars but do we check ourselves? Or are you fit to drive but a loved one not? It’s about having that conversation with them – it might be difficult – but it’s a lot better than having to deal with the potential consequences.

“Driving is a privilege, not a right. Don’t become blasé about it – you might drive the same route twice every day on your way to and from work and think you know every little twist and turn – but that can lead to over confidence – and that is when accidents can happen.

“My message to all motorists is to ask everyone to stop and think for a second about your driving – if this message helps to stop one road death it has been successful.”