FATAL ROAD ACCIDENTS

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXXVI, Issue 14636, 3 April 1948, Page 3

FATAL ROAD ACCIDENTS

NINETEEN PEOPLE KILLED DURING MARCH GOOD STANDARD OF DRIVING OVER EASTER (P.A.) Wellington April 2. Nineteen people died as a result of accidents during March, a reduction of five compared with March last year, said the Minister of Transport, Mr Hackett, today. Eight of those killed were pedestrians, seven were drivers or passengers on motor vehicles, three were motor-cyclists and one was a cyclist. Private cars were involved in ten fatal accidents, trucks in six, taxis in two and a motor-cycle collided with a pedestrian.

In every case where a driver or passenger of a motor vehicle was killed it was as the result of the vehicle running off the road, capsizing or, in one case, colliding .with a power pole, said Mr Hackett, who added that this seemed to indicate that vehicles were travelling at speeds too fast for the conditions, a major cause of traffic accidents. Mr Hackett added that, according to reports from the Transport Department's traffic staff, driving over the Easter week-end was, on the average, of a good standard. Nevertheless, there were six fatal accidents over that period.