A HARD-HITTING campaign is being launched to target aggressive, dangerous drivers on south Essex roads.

Posters have been emblazoned across buses in the Southend, Rochford, Rayleigh and Castle Point areas, picturing a car being shot from a handgun.

The name of the campaign - Licensed To Kill - is written underneath along with the message: "Cars kill or seriously injure more people in south east Essex than loaded guns".

South East Essex Community Safety Initiative - made up of police, ambulance service, fire service and councils - will also distribute more than 1,000 posters to pubs, clubs, hospitals and libraries to hammer home the message.

Sgt Andy Beckett, of Rayleigh road policing unit, said: "I have just spent the past three months investigating a road death and the main contributing factor is antisocial driving.

"Speed limits are there for a reason - to protect road users. By the time I'm knocking on the door it's too late again.

"I hope this latest campaign will help towards altering antisocial drivers' attitudes to speed on our roads."

The campaign, launched this week, coincided with the release of the latest James Bond film on DVD which organisers hope will help people notice the road safety message.

Figures obtained by the safety initiative group revealed 391 people were killed or seriously injured in road accidents in the 12 months leading up to April 2006.

In the same period, 19 people were killed or seriously injured in the UK's 634 gun crimes.

Martin Powell, chairman of the safety initiative group and assistant divisional fire officer for Southend, said: "We know the number of people that drive is a lot more than the number of people that carry guns.

"However, there has been a lot of media focus on gun and knife crime recently. We are just trying to raise awareness that in the wrong hands a car can be lethal."