MOTOR-HOG AND BIKE-BRUTE.

NZ Truth, Issue 79, 22 December 1906, Page 1

MOTOR-HOG AND BIKE-BRUTE.

Have the City Council or the, police no authority over the ruffian rhotorhog or the hoodlum cyclist,, and no power to compel them to respect the lives, limbs and : well being," of their fellow citizens? It would seem -not, or else that the police— in particular j •—are afraid to do their duty for fear of a pull, or else Ihey' are too. inert ! to bother about a ; little- thing like aj death-dealing motor or a scorching i cyclist. The known "accidents" of! the past two weeks m Wellington,caused'by reckless, witless wheelmen or mad kerotene-caxavan road-hogs have been numerous and ■"' dreadful enough to stir /the whole, community and the more so as m several instances the yictihis have been w.omen The two smashes at the. intersection 6f Boulcoftt," jWilli.s caused no surprise to, .any. who /.keep .their eyes or-'Jri as they wallc the streets. T,bai isimilar. ones, are not of-, daily Occurrence at ev&v junction is- juat ' '•sheer "drunk's luck." Boulcott-street 'is steep and, at one time .-'-. to travel, such a loojse-stoney incline . v at.; all would, have been thought' fty most wheelmen a thing not to be. unneces)'jarily negotiate^. Now a gang' of lash hobbledehoys on their, time-pay-ncnt bikes not only come down such lills without a brake, hut theyactuillv increase the natural pace by pedaling as hard as if they were on the evel. ■ ' ■ t .- ''.y-O'JoO''- 00-- 'i m the morning, close up to the var- ! ous business j^pur si >-oyeJSjf own youths iho are tooVlazy; td r ise and bireak■.ast sufficiently early ,to enahle them to reach their work without racing for it, come sbootj#j*f -flown these sloping or steep s elects at a pace that if they could do it, on a race-track, would make them all Bill Martins, Willis-street is a great practice ground for the scorcher and as, to the south of Manners and Boulcptt it is not a business street, the motor-hog also does his rush act here. They come and go m strings and streams, and that the down-hill devils and the flat fliers do not oftencr get ii_ix£d up m a deadly smash is marvellous j that more , pedestrians are not maimed or killed at such correi .** as Ghuznee and Willis is due to the trained watchfulness and athletic ability of the pedestrians, not to- anv care of the whirling wheelers. An army of young girls and others use Willis-street as; the nearest avenue to" the down town places of their ■ employment snd through the 'throngs ' at the crossings these yi^e; v criminal" cyclists cut, at as much perchance, : as from 30 to 40 milfes. an hour.And never a policeman so much as holds up his hand ! It is fa-scandal-that enn be noted any morning of the working , week, and that no one m authority attempts to cheik it or prosecute offenders is a disgrace to the c*ty. ; ■-'■.-..■•. Nor does this vile villainy only occur at such street intersections. All parts •of the town aie scorched over by ' cyclists and verY few pajrts ; not rushed by motor-cars.j Mannersstreet East and Courtenay-place are favorite places for both^ot these criminal classes to try their! paces to the public danger. Only laJst week a gentleman was charged ahd severely - injured, besides receiving a 'shock from which he has not recovered' yet, by an overgrown larrikin on a bicycle. The gentleman crossed m front of an up car that was some 30 0r : ,40 yards away. and, seeing the bicycle beast ., — scorching, head-down, almost m the gutter, and going -the opposite way to the car, he made no foolish at* Tempt to cross m front of his flying wheel— it would have been impossible, even at a hard run— so be.- stopped tiea-d, just clear of the down track, toVl'fet the brainless ruffian go on his j 80-mile-an-hour way. But the crea^ ture had seen him coming across and sivddenly swim": out apparently to go round behind him and then : seeing the car he just drove straight at the stationary nedestrian, still pedalling hard, and. having no mentality or resource, which would have led. him to \ turn m aeain and clear the man, he J iust ran smasli into him', spread me ) him out on the blocks with a' crash i that mioiht easily, have caused fatal • injury. When, b?.ving' cray/led from under <he bike, which of course leaned on the victim and worst sufferer, the battered citizen remonstrated, the i gawky hoodlum bad the cheek to ask ' "Why didn't you get out of the way." And then he got on his Instalmentplan machine and rode away.- There is no redress m such a case. The delinquent escapes on his wheel and the sufferer can only curse all scorching cyclists and the authorities that allow scorching m a crowded city

fellows to &4e proper precautions to 1 prevent .acciuierits. The cyclist even invades .tbe .sidewalks, secure in^aisj -immunity .trorri. ".official .i^is&f aritL^i _i_=l M& willseS'vto ; ccmvexW. #itli a pedes- ; icit 'ditstyi: 'bikerakwig; at; -his ' side amoris tne thickest" of the crowd ; while hundreds leave their machines standing up against ths Inside of the verandah posts, the curved handles presenting a serious danger to hurrying 'pedestrians and even to the eyes of heedless or dragged children. Now that serious accidents have occurred maybe the Council will do something to justify its existence, v -^

whose streets are only glorified alleyways. _'.''. . • ». • » The . awful tragedy of Monday ■ afterneon, by which an estimable lady • was dashed to death m one moment I and her daughter had a leg broken m two places; was by no nieans the "accident" the morning paper adroitly attempted to make it out to be. That motor fire ratgine has been a ghastly menace to the public safety ever since it started whirling and j clahging through the streets on every occasion When an alarm is turned m. It is all very well for it to lie put to speed alone sto|ight streets where • the. traffic is n|r r congested— as it invariably is along the Quay and made, trebly dangerous by the flying, threading. doubling, twisting and .turning ; bicycles that our lazy youth are too tired to do withodt, even if their errand be only a block— and a rush is -excusable where fire threaten:* important interests.. But there can be no' excuse for turning street cor-: ners even at such a pace as this firechief and driver say they were travelling and the less still as the fire tlie engine was. beim-p* raced to had been burnine: nearly all day and was only a gorse fire, anyway. " * * o* In streets where the sound of the goag of the trams is practically always m the .ear* 'people would naturally, take that .-of the motor engine for a tram-bell and would not look upon it, even ii heard, as having. any' interest for or connected with the pedestrian traffic. of. the side-walk. The firemen should, recognise this and reduce speed, at street intersections. Cuba and" Manners-street crossing is always crowded with foot and wheel traffic, not to speak of inoessant standing and moving trams. Yet at any time of day, and even when returning from, not rushing to, a fire, this same death-dealing motor engine may be seen to spin around the corner or straight across the traffic, at a pace that, makes the least nervous watcher's heart stand still. At time of writing the verdict of the Coroner's jury js not known, nor can anything herein affect it, but such an awful and avoidable occurrence .as the slaying of this poor lady, the dreadful injury of her daughter and the heart-breaking bereavement of an entire family should not he allowed to pass as a mere accident. To the Devil with suoh "accidents !"- The streets are for the people and the : majority of the people walk, either from choice or necessity, and they ..have a right to expect to walk m safety , ■ crossing or no crossing, fireengine or private motor-hog, bike or .motor-cycle,, notwithstanding. In . Wellington, with the absurd reading of the regulations that could 'only have emanated from a fat-headed Council iitierly careless of the general weal and entirely callous as to the effect of its supijje- sninelessness, the motor-driver and;; cyclist just follows his hioggish be^t.. aijd no man m authority says liihi nay. .'.Every day he gets more defiant of any by-law, regulation, or common decency. », • • There are two or three motorcyclists who snap and bark round from Lamb ton Quay, up Willis and round and along Manners-street and Courtenay-place, of evenings just after five o'clock and of : mornings, just before nine, at a speed that would be good "pace" for a championship bike race., No policeman ever lays for tfliem or warns them and none of them are ever prosecuted. One of these motor cyclists whipped along ' Manners-street and •round into, Cuba-street extension, on Saturday, through a thick crowd which he sent on the jump right and left, at a pace that caused his machine to lie at an angle of- '45 degrees at the ' turn. Nobody seemed a bit angry or surprised either. Every bicycle, pedal or motor, should be registered and conspicuously numbered. Then, even if the wheelman who flattens out a citizen did make prompt use of his conveyance to escape, his number would have been noted and he could' be reached by summons and made to nay for his sinful recklessness of the safety of others. The sooner Well- • ; inn-ton City Council gets to work to legislate for the common weal m such matters, the better it will be I for ihe community at Tarfre. -Tt is i nothing short of monstrous .holt, the ; street traffic should be entirely handed over to a- crowd of youths ?nd ■ mad men who are too la'/.v 1 o i !*-■<• the means of locomotion nn.t*.t *•.->■ -ndowpd them with and too '-r*n"iivlv i, careless of the well-being of their