ROAD ACCIDENTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 183, 4 August 1936, Page 16

ROAD ACCIDENTS.

AGES OF THE CARS. SMALL SCALE SURVEY. MORE NEWER VEHICLES. In view of the recent statement by the Minister of Transport, the Hon. R. Semple, that old cars and "junk" should be removed from the roads, an article in the "Automobile Trade Journal" is of particular interest. The journal, while it does not claim its survey to be sufficiently wide to justify conclusions, prints an analysis of motor car accidents which shows that newer cars were involved in relatively more mishaps than were older models. The paper states: — "That old cars are a menace to the safety of other users of the highways has frequently been emphasised in both the Press and from the public platform. Moreover, safety lias been one of the main reasons advanced for 'junking' plans which factories have put into effect from time to time to help dealers clear their stock* of aged used cars. However, because this assumption seemed so obviously reasonable, so far as we know, no attempt has been made heretofore to find out just how true it is. So-recently the 'Automobile Trade Journal' made a small scale survey of tlie'factg. to get.some light 011 the subject.

."Before, presenting the figures, we want to emphasise that the number of accidents included in the survey was too small to prove anything. A much broader survey must be made before any trustworthy conclusions may be drawn. The results obtained in our small .scale survey, suggest that the ■relationship between age and accidents is exactly the "opposite of what it has ■beerr widely assumed to. be. In other words, in proportion to the numbers of newer/and' older vehicles on the road, newer cars are involved in relatively more accidents.

"The figures on which this observation is based are the result of an analysis of 494 official reports of accidents involving damage of £10 or more taken at random from the files of one of the larger eastern States- for the months of November and December, 1035, and January, 1930. The age of the car in-

volved in each of these accidents was determined and the accidents then classified according to the ages of the cars involved. Then an estimate was made of the percentage of cars of each year of manufacture back to 1924 which were in service at the end of last year. "Of the 494 reports analysed, 00 were on accidents involving 1930 cars, and these were not included in the figures presented in the table, since there was no way to estimate the number of 1930 cars in service at the end of 1935. Details of the Analysis. "Summarising the figures presented in the table, 3.77 per cent of the cars in service during the period were built prior to 1925 and were involved in no accidents; 24.79 per cent were built between 1925 and 1928 inclusive, and were involved in 11.75 per cent of the accidents; 39.50 per cent were built between 1929 and 1'932 inclusive, arid were involved in 35.95 per cent; 10.84 per cent were built in 1933 and 1934, and were involved in 28.34 per cent; and 15.10 per cent were built in 1935, and were involved in 23.90 per cent.

"The 1930 cars, which were eliminated in computing the foregoing percentages, had been on sale only three months at the end of the period covered by the survey, yet they were involved in 00 of the 494 accidents analysed, which is more than for any year of manufacture prior to 1934. As mentioned previously, the number of accidents examined in this survey is too small to prove anything, and even if the figures were more comprehensive, other phases of the accidents in which the cars were involved would have to be examined before positive conclusions would be justified.

"However, taking these figures with the unquestionable fact that the newer cars are inherently safer because of better brakes, tyres, bodies, etc., and also considering statistics issued by various States, which show that roughly 3 per cent of the accidents are attributed to defective equipment, it seems fair to emphasise what fairminded persons, who have studied the situation, know, and that is that any substantial reduction in accidents can only come as the result of an improvement in driving habits. Certainly it seems clear that the industry's efforts to promote safety should be focused on this objective."