Shock horror road ads not enough

Gory footage of car crashes is not enough to persuade young people to drive more carefully, the head of Western Australia's road safety department says.

Office of Road Safety executive director Iain Cameron told a parliamentary inquiry on Monday other states were increasingly using less confronting ads, instead of just shock and horror, to get the safe driving message across.

Mr Cameron said the digital world had opened more ways to reach audiences, particularly young people, and it was important not to be one dimensional.

"Our ability to shock ... people in a public television prime time ad is nothing compared to what some young people watch in a video game," Mr Cameron said.

He said his office's primary substance of concern was alcohol but there was increasing evidence drugs were a problem.

Since the start of the year, 23 people have died on WA's roads, seven more than the same time last year.