ROAD ACCIDENTS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 267, 24 August 1936, Page 5

ROAD ACCIDENTS.

INVESTIGATION IN BRITAIN. SOME INTERESTING DATA. United Press Association—Copyright; (Received This Day, 12.40 p.m.) LONDON, August 22. 7 A report has been published by the Ministry of Transport giving .an analysis over 6300 road accidents in 1935, involving the deaths of nearly 6500 people. The inquiry, which has been undertaken as part of the campaign for road safety, followed' the same lines as that of 1933, except that for the first time, publicity is given to the ascribed causes of accidents on the basis of police reports. Perhaps the most- surprising fact revealed is that Sunday is the day of the week with least accidents. Saturday has most. Thirty-three per cent, of the accidents were the result of collision between moving Vehicles and, 47 per cent, collisions between moving vehicles and pedestrians, 30 per cent, of the accidents occurred at road junctions and 62 per cent, cn straight roads or open roads or bends with good sight lines, from Monday to Friday. The hours of day with the largest number of accidents is between five arid six in the evening, and, the second most dangerous hour between 10 and 11 at night. Tables in the report show how the death curve among pedestrians descends rapidly after the age of 11 until it reaches its lowest point between 20 and 25, and then gradually rises again, steepening beyond the age of 50. Ten per cent, of the pcdesHians killed were under five years of age, while more than 50 per cent, of those killed while crossing roads were 60 years and over.