GIRLS wave their little fingers to mock “show-off” drivers on posters promoting a new campaign to stop young men from speeding.

The Cambridgeshire County Council campaign, titled ‘Speeding: No-one thinks big of you’, aims to “use peer pressure in a cheeky, subtle way to reduce young male driver and female passenger casualties”.

The initiative is inspired by the ‘Pinkie’ campaign used in New South Wales, Australia. It targets young drivers by providing information, advice and discussion on social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Councillor Steve Criswell, Cabinet member for community infrastructure, said: “In 2010, there were 923 road casualties aged 17-25 in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, which is higher than the national average. This casualty rate is also at double the rate for all other age groups.

“This campaign steers away from the hard-hitting campaigns used previously to target the young male driver audience and aims to stimulate discussion and give passengers the confidence to tell their friends to slow down.”

One poster depicts teenage girls waving their little fingers at young men who show off with dangerous driving.

A second poster shows a teenage girl’s Facebook profile where she is criticising her boyfriend for driving “like an idiot”. Responses claim that the young driver is “obviously compensating for something”.

A county council spokesman said the campaign gives “the right kind of message which would catch the attention of young drivers who are at significantly higher risk than other age groups of drivers”.

He said: “So far judging by the feedback we have had we were right to go with the campaign and its tone and content.

“The media channels we are using are specifically aimed at the target audience and not the general public. It will be people’s choice to engage with the campaign - particularly the imagery.

“In conversation with students they think the campaign is a good way to reach young drivers.”

For more information on the campaign, follow @CambsRoadSafety on Twitter or visit www.facebook.com/CambsRoadSafety