"ROAD HOGS."

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 300, 20 December 1938, Page 7

"ROAD HOGS."

NO CLOSED SEASON.

MINISTER ISSUES WARNING. SPECIAL HOLIDAY PATROLS. (By Telegraph.—l'ross Association.) WKLLIN'iiTOX, Monday. The policy that will lie followed by traffic inspectors on main highways during the holiday jieriod was outlined by the Minister nf Transport, the Hon. K. Seuiple. in an interview thi* evening. He said the present indications were that traffic dui'injr the Christmas and New \ear week-ends would probably be the heaviest ever experienced on the roads of Xew Zealand. "fhe staff of traffic ins|»ectors has recently been increased specially to deal with holiday traffic," said Mr. Semple. "There will be an patrol of certain main highways during the peak period-;, and all inspectors have definite instructions to look out for drivers whose conduct endangers the safety of other road users.

"Inspectors will treat every body with courtesy and consideration. They will aim to control heavy stream* of traffic so that they How smoothly and safely. I hey will seek to *afeguard the sensible, law-abiding motorist from the bad-man-nered. irresponsible driver who attempts to cut in and out of a procession to jjain a few car lengths at the expense of someone else's safety. Mo*t important of all. they will encourage road-users to do the right thing, not only because the law s-ays so. but also because their co--1 o|HM-ation will help reduce the toll j of accidents and make motoring more pleasant for everyone. The Slow Driver. "Inspectors will be on the lookout for certain types of road-user*. One type is characterised by his irresistible impulse to get in front of anything ahead; by his noisiness when any other road-users happen to be in hi* way, and by his complete lack of motoring manners. He is a 'road hog,' and he will not be protected by any closed season during the holidays. "At the other end of the scale is the 'traffic snail,'" Mr. Semple continued, '"the very slow driver, who frequently clings tenaciously to the centre of the road, and whose crawling pace causes other traffic to pile up behind. Other cars cannot pass safely because of bends ami vehicles approaching from the opposite direction. At la*t someone Ix'conies impatient, pulls out of line, and a seriou* accident results. If a car is an older and much slower model than the one behind, fir the driver is nervous, it is his or her duty to keep a* far as is practicable to the left and to allow faster vehicles to get past. It is no more courteous to block traffic than to block a busy shop doorway."

Mr. Semple said the faet that accidents were preventable had been shown by the experience of the la«t nine days. Only one period of more than six dav« free from a fatal road accident had previously been recorded. Xine days had now passed without a fatality on the roads, and this record was still unbroken.