"SAFETY FIRST."

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 18634, 8 March 1926, Page 8

"SAFETY FIRST."

LEVEL CROSSINGS DANGER. RAILWAY DEPARTMENT'S CAMPAIGN. "Provision has been made for approximately ten level crossings in one year, and the Railway Department is contemplating the completion of an. additional number at an early date." This intimation of the Government's intentions was contained in a statement issued to "The Press" on Saturday by the Prime Minister. The full statement was as follows: — Reports appearing in the Press recently regarding level crossing fatalities, and comments made thereon at meetings of Chambers of Commerce and by newspapers, .give ground for a restatement of the position in which railways and road-users stand in relation to the use of level crossings. It is obvious to all reasonable persons that all trains cannot run always to time, and that even if they could, scheduling them to pass all level crossings at certain fixed times would be out of the question. It is also clear that a proportion of non-time-table trains must run, such as service trains, and also those run to.meet emergencies or for special purposes of any kind. That being so, it follows that to assume at any time that, because a certain regular train should have passed, there is no further need for exercising care at a railway crossing is to take grave and unwarranted risks. *•> "Neglecting Their Duty." The number of accidents through vehicles, particularly motor-vehicles, colliding with trains, indicates that drivers of vehicles have been neglecting the duty they owe both to themselves and to the train-using public. The legal position was clearly stated in a New Zealand Supreme Court case, the judgment" (in part) being as follows: "Prima facie, however, and in the absence of special circumstances of justification, a man who enters on a level crossing in front of an approaching train and is there run down by it, must himself have been guilty of failure to use due care for his own safety. To look and listen is in all ordinary cases an effective precaution against sueh an accident, and it is the duty of all persons before entering on a railway crossing to look and listen accordingly, and, by reducing speed or otherwise, to place themselves in such a situation that they can look and listen effectively." Responsibility is definitely fixed by the law, and reason bears it out, that the cause of humanity requires of every person before proceeding to negotiate a level crossing that he shall assure himself as to the safety of so doing. On the ground of the very large expenditure involved—probably not less than £2,000,000 —the complete elimination of level crossings is not within thjf bounds of practical consideration at the present time. "Railway'crossing" arms are displayed at a reasonable distance from all level crossings, and the usual "Stop! Look out for the Engine" notice at the crossing itself. Precautions in Cities. In our own main cities, by-laws have recently been passed requiring vehicular traffic to stop behind tram-cars, when the latter are slowing down for a stop, in order that passengers from and to. the tram-cars may cross the road in safety. Observance of this precaution has had a most valuable effect in reducing the number of street accidents, but in complying with it, motorists have, frequently to stop many times in travelling a mile through city streets. Yet out on country roads, in spite' of all warning signs and the knowledge of frequent. fatal results from neglect, drivers of vehicles whose very lives may depend on taking this precaution, frequently recklessly ignore the necesssity for care at what is perhaps the only level crossing in many miles. ; The toll of accidents of this kind is too heavy and serious for the matter to be left entirely to the good sense and care of the drivers of road-using vehicle, and public welfare demands that stringent measures be taken to ensure that the law is complied with. .. Warning Appliances. The Department, for its part, has provided for approximately ten level crossing in one year, and has in mind completing a further quota at .an early date. It has aiso installed bells and othee warning appliances (which are not infrequently ignored) at a larger , number of level crossings, and is continuing the erection of these device's in the order of their urgency, besides co-operating with local bodies in the provision of overbridges or subways where these are called for, but care on the part of roadusers, and the adoption of such measures as will impress on their minds the dangers and penalties attaching to neglect of due precaution at level crossings, are the only means by which the problem can be ultimately solved. In the meantime, however, the Department is launching a "careful-cross-ing campaign" by means of a wide distribution and display of coloured posters and stickers drawing attention to the need for the practice of " safety-first" principles, and.it is hoped that with the active support and co-operation of local bodies, automobile associations, and other interested societies, the force of public opinion may also bo brought heavily to bear in universal condemnation of negligence at level crossings on the part of drivers of road-using vehicles. Asked whether any of the level crossings referred to were in the South Island, the Prime Minister replied, "I cannot say."