The Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Wednesdays and Fridays. MONDAY, JUNE 26th, 1939 NEW ANGLE ON ROAD ACCIDENTS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 28, 26 June 1939, Page 4

The Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Wednesdays and Fridays. MONDAY, JUNE 26th, 1939 NEW ANGLE ON ROAD ACCIDENTS

The Minister of Transport, by appealing repeatedly to motorists to exercise care in order to reduce the number of road accidents, may actually be defeating his own purpose, because, as an English publicist has pointed out, the constant insistence on the responsibility of motorists may be giving cyclists and pedestrians a false idea of the position. The pedestrian who imagines that he can proceed without regard to road traffic, says the publicist, is potentially committing suicide. He assumes that the approaching motorists will all necessarily see him, that they will be anxious to avoid him, and that they will be capable of avoiding him. Two of these propositions are always doubtful, because the motorist may not see the pedestrian, especially if there is other traffic. on the road, and even if he sees the: pedestrian he may be unable to avoid a collision. Pedestrians and cyclists are often careless. In cities and towns where cyclists are numerous, cyclists especially, take numberless unnecessary risks, possibly because they are encouraged to believe that the drivers of motor cars will be ever on their watch and will be able to avoid accidents. Pedestrians are certainly not so careless, but in all towns some f§ty pedestrians deliberately throw on the motorist the whole responsibility for avoiding accidente, and there is no doubt that the current road safety propaganda does encourage them in that attitude. The English publicist insists that in the discussion of traffic matters the responsibility of cyclists and motorists should receive a proper measure of attention, and New Zealand experience undoubtedly bears out his contention. There are accident-prone cyclists as well as accident-prone motonsts. Sooner or later the traffic authorities in all countries will have to get down to the fact that the majority of road fatalities —not necessarily of road accidents—are due to physical or mental ideficiencies of some cf the people concerned. Accidents may occur when

all the parties are alert and all equally anxious for safety, because modern and instinctive action that is entirely justified may still result in an accident. Insistence on the responsibility of motorists creates the impression that other road users are net required to exercise due care, but it is plainly incumbent on all users of the roads to be careful. The publicist quoted thinks that accidents are mainly a matter of temperament, and it would be possible, by a simple but careful examination, to predict whether any individual is likely to be involved in a road accident.