FATAL ACCIDENTS

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 165, 15 July 1938, Page 13

FATAL ACCIDENTS

POSITION IN-LONDON.

PROGRESSIVE REDUCTION. CORONER'S EXPERIENCE. A substantial and progressive reduction in the number of fatal street accidents in Central London was commented on by Mr. Ingleby Oddie, the Central j London coroner, in evidence before the House of Lords Select Committee on the Prevention of Road Accidents. | With ' Sir Seymour Williams, ceronerj for South Gloucestershire, he appeared i on behalf of the Coroners' Society. Mr Oddie explained that the area of his jurisdiction included Westminster, Kensington. Paddington, Marylebone, [ Holborn, and Finsbury—the heart of I London. In 1930, the year in which he! took it over, there were 136 fatal street j accidents; laet year there were only 61 I and in the first .three months of this j year only nine. That was a most significant drop. Up to 1931 the number was steadily about 100 a year. He attributed this improvement to publicity, a reduction in speed, and to street improvement, including the provision of pedestrian crossings, traffic lights, and more refuges. The experience of Mr. Purchase, the North London coroner, he said, was similar. Replying to Lord Alness, the chairman, Mr. Oddie said he thought that the speed limit of 30 miles an hour was too high for London and should be reduced to 20 miles an hour. Further, no over- i taking by motor cars should be allowed! in any case. This, was a moet fruitful j cause of accidents. j Careless Pedestrians. I Lord Alness: Looking back over your , 25 years' experience as a coroner, what would you say is the commonest cause | of etreet fatalities? Mr. Oddie: Immediately I would eay! stepping off the pavement without look-1 ing. Inattention on the part of the pedestrian ? —Yes. The witness suggested that the remedy was continued publicity and education, which had produced more care in people in recent years. Railings at dangerous points would also be helpful. Sir Seymour Williams said the Coroners' Society believed that special I traffic coiirte would be unnecessary and undesirable. In the case of fatal road accidents coroners' courts provided a satisfactory method of inquiry. The method was both cheap and speedy. Specially appointed tribunals would b) a waste of public money and would tend towards bureaucracy. He agreed that there was a great I reluctance by juries lwth in coroners' courts and the High Court to return verdicts of manslaughter. Mr. Oddie said that he had had the same experience. Juries associated manslaughter with some act of intentional violence. He believed the difficulty could be overcome as, he had been told, it had been in New Zealand by the creation of some new form of offence for the causing of death by negligence or dangerous driving. Further evidence was given on behalf of the Cyclists' Touring Club by Mr. G, Herbert Stancer, who said that he could not- see any advantage in the numbering and registering ;Cof pedal cyclists.