Road Safety

Press, Volume LXXV, Issue 22877, 25 November 1939, Page 12

Road Safety

Three news articles printed in “ The Press ” yesterday direct attention to aspect? of the road safety campaign. The new regulations relating to pedestrian crossings will be welcomed by pedestrians, motorists, and cyclists. The clearer definition of "pedestrian crossings and safety zones was an urgent need. It is necessary to go no further than the Square on a wet night to realise that the present marking of pedestrian crossings and safety zones is inadequate and even dangerous when the pedestrian on safety zone or crossing may suffer a sense of false security from motorists unable to distinguish the limiting lines of these areas But even when the crossings and safety zones are as clearly defined as it is possible to make them, complete safety will not be secured without the co-operation of all users of the roads in the exercise of common sense and courtesy. It would, for example, be clearly impossible for motorists to pass over the longer pedestrian crossings in the Square on a Friday night if the constant stream of pedestrians upon them .were to insist on their absolute rights under the law. Indeed, if motorists were to stop at such crossings indefinitely, as they might well do if pedestrians refused to allow them to pass, a state of chaos would soon result. The second article is a report of remarks by the Chief Traffic Inspector, Mr J. Bruorton, about the importance of motorists observing the righthand rule. The question whether this rule is more effective than would be the institution of a left-hand rule need not be considered for purposes of discussing Mr Bruorton’s very sensible remarks. The rightrhand rule is the rule, and if motorists generally observe it the danger of accidents will be considerably .lessened. Common sense, as Mr Bruorton points out, is in the end the root of safety; combined with courtesy it can be the most potent factor in the reduction of city street accidents. Reduction of speed on approaching intersections is also of first importance. Mr Bruorton makes a point of real value when he emphasises the point recently made from a Supreme Court Bench that motorists would take fewer risks if they adopted the habit of thinking in terms of feet a second instead of miles an hour and used judgment of pace rather than reliance on the effectiveness of brakes. A final word on safety is contained in the weekly bulletin of the Automobile Association (Canterbury) which places emphasis on the need for motorists to keep windscreens and windows clean. To have a dirty windscreen, perhaps not all motorists are aware, is a breach of the traffic regulations and a serious potential cause of accident, especially in wet weather and ait night. But in the end all safety regulations for traffic will be of no'avail without the co-operation and good sense of road users. The long lists regularly appearing in the newspapers of prosecutions in the Magistrate’s Court are a constant reminder that this co-operation is still lacking among a large section of the motoring public. The inclination to take risks to save perhaps a second or two of time has not been eradicated. Until it has, the toll of the road will continue.