17 DEATHS DAILY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 113, 16 May 1933, Page 7

17 DEATHS DAILY.

Carelessness Or Stupidity on the Road. REMARKABLE REPORT. LONDON, May 10. The carelessness or stupidity of either drivers or pedestrians is responsible for nearly all road deaths, according to the Safety First Association's remarkable analysis of 3129 fatalities during the second half of 1932. Half the victims were pedestrians, a quarter motor cyclists, and a sixth cyclists. The daily death rate averaged 17. Saturdays had the worst average, of 23, compared with Friday's 18. On Christmas Eve 30 were killed. The most dangerous hours were between 5 and 6 p.m. and 10. and 11 p.m. The chief faults of drivers were failure to keep near tho side of the road, failure to adjust speed to circumstances, inattention to cutting out and neglect to jound the horn.

The principal faults of pedestrians were stepping from the footpath unexpectedly and emerging suddenly from tho rear and front of stationary vehicles. • Children's deaths were most frequently due to their suddenly running across the road. Women drivers are largely absolved from the charge of recklessness, as their errors contributed only 4.05 of the fatalities. The secretary of the association, Colonel Pickard, urges that the solution of the problem lies in the improvement of the human element. He adds that motor cyclists kill themselves and must be trained how to use their machines. Tho British Medical Association is considering the promotion of a bill to enable doctors to be paid for first-aid treatment in road accidents, of which there are 200,000 a year. At present they are paid in only one out of five cases.