MOTORISTS travelling along some of South Lakeland's most dangerous roads are to be shocked into driving with extra care.

Shock boards' revealing "alarmingly" high number of casualties are to be put up on the A590, A591 and A595.

The Safer Roads for Cumbria partnership is spending £36,000 on 17 signs to be placed on strategic sections of the three busy roads.

The special signs include the total number of casualties recorded between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2004, in a bid to prevent further accidents from happening. During the period, there were 740 casualties on the A590, Kendal to Barrow. Of these 27 were fatal, 114 serious injuries and 599 slight injuries.

On the A591 Kendal to Keswick, there were 393 casualties ten fatal, 70 serious and 313 slight injuries. And on the A595 there were 1,245 casualties 21 fatal, 193 serious injuries and 1,031 slight injuries.

Cumbria County Council spokesman for community safety Coun Geoff Hodgson said shock boards were one of many initiatives being undertaken by the Safer Roads for Cumbria partnership to tackle road accidents.

"We hope drivers will take notice of the alarmingly high number of people that have become casualties on these chosen routes and drive with more care," he said.

The signs are designed to break in a controlled' way and absorb the energy of an impact, reducing the severity of an injury to motorists, if they crash into one.

The posts are also maintenance-free and will last for more than 60 years, says the partnership, which comprises Cumbria County Council, Cumbria Chamber of Commerce, Cumbria Police, the Highways Agency, Capita Symonds, North Cumbria and Morecambe Bay Primary Care Trusts, the Freight Transport Association and Cumbria Safety Camera Partnership.

A service is to be held at Carlisle Cathedral on November 20 to mark World Day of Remembrance for Road Crash Victims.

The service - which takes place at 3pm - will remember those who have died on Cumbria's roads by name while praising the work of the emergency services.