Grampian Police have announced road fatality statistics for the region and for Aberdeenshire.

Numbers of people killed on north-east roads are lower in 2009 than in 2008.

In 2008, 35 people were killed on roads in Grampian, this reduced to 31 in 2009. Fatalities in Aberdeehsire in 2008 were 26 reducing to 19 in 2009.

There is a high percentage of young people (under 25 years of age) involved in the fatality statistics but these numbers are also down on 2008 in both Grampian (11 down to 10) and Aberdeenshire (10 down to 6).

Leslie Harrold Road Safety Manager with Road Safety Grampian said:

"In previous years, Grampian averaged fifty road deaths per annum so I am pleased that the annual total for road deaths has fallen to its lowest level since records began. It is still disappointing that thirty one people lost their lives on our roads in 2009.

"In 2010, my Unit will continue to educate drivers to slow down, to wear their seat belts, not to drink and drive and not to use their mobile phone whilst driving. These still remain the main causes of road deaths. If the behaviour of some road users can be changed then the number of fatalities in Grampian will continue to fall. All road users must take responsibility for their own actions and put safety first on our roads.

"It is not roads that kill people, it is the way people use our roads that lead to road deaths!"

There is more information on road fatalities in north-east Scotland on the BBC web site.