She said: "Winter brings particular dangers with frost, fog and wet or icy roads. Motorists, and in fact all road users, need to be especially careful just now."
Her advice comes as the latest figures showed that road deaths in January were up on both 2007 and 2006. When the first week in February is added in, the increase over the same period last year is over 44%. She said that the figures were very worrying, especially as they followed the encouraging drop in road deaths in 2007.
The Minister said: "As far as children are concerned, the situation is particularly heart-breaking, with two children dead already compared with five in the whole of 2007."
The news coincides with a report from the police which shows that the number of 'R' drivers who had got penalty points in 2007 was four times as high as the figure for 2003.
The Minister added: "I welcome the fact that the police are detecting these offences but I am concerned that so many young drivers are ignoring the law and putting themselves and other road users at risk.
"Research shows that one in five newly qualified drivers will be involved in a collision within 12 months of passing the driving test and that driver inattention or careless driving is a key factor in many of the collisions.”
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