CARE ON THE ROADS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 304, 23 December 1943, Page 4

CARE ON THE ROADS

A DDITIONAL. petrol allowances added to the savings made by most ■"• motorists for the holiday. season will result in a heavy increase in normal road traffic during the next few weeks. Unless great caution is exercised this may lead to a rise in the accident ratio, and motorists should exercise particular care during the period. The light traffic carried by the highways since the petrol restrictions were imposed has led to an unusual degree of carelessness on the part of many drivers, who have become accustomed to fairly clear roads and who consequently take risks on bends, corners and hillcrests which they would not normally take. Many drivers who have had little experience during past months will be on the roads, and both they and their more experienced brethren should be mindful of the ever-present dangers which are waiting to pounce on the least infraction of that eternal vigilance which is the price of safety. In America far more lives were lost in motor smashes and the list of injured is higher in the last two years than the whole toll of the war. We use less petrol here, and the death rate is not so high, but even so the loss of life and limb by accident is far too heavy. In the first eight months of this year 91 people were killed in New Zealand, 919 were slightly injured, and 800 were seriously injured. The holiday season will turn to tragedy for many unless motorists will exercise much more than the usual care and refuse to take any avoidable risk. An American truck driver who had covered over five million miles without a trace of accident was asked his secret of safety. "I always act like the other fellow, was crazy "'he replied in the vernacular. And if drivers keep this in mind, and remember that all other drivers are not so expert as they consider themselves to be, there will be far fewer accidents. Driving at cruising speed saves both petrol and tyres, and the few minutes gained by breakneck hustling are not worth the wear and tear they cost the car. The last few weeks have been dry, and motorists should exercise the greatest caution with cigarette ends, which may start fires costing the country thousands of pounds. Campers should also be exceptionally careful with their fires this year.