Request For More Traffic Officers

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31409, 30 June 1967, Page 7

Request For More Traffic Officers

The Christchurch Metropolitan Road Safety Committee will support the Waimairi County Council’s request to the Minister of Transport (Mr Gordon) for more traffic officers.

The Waimairi council representative on the committee (Mr D. B. Rich) said the need for more officers was not restricted to the Waimairi county. Ten per cent of the drivers caused 90 per cent of the trouble, Mr Rich claimed, and more enforcement was needled. Waimairi county, which had 11 officers, had asked the Minister for four more officers and a plain car. The reply was that the traffic officer-population ratio compared favourably with other areas in the country. The council had been most dissatisfied with the reply, he said. Although there were nominally 11 officers in the county, there were times when only two or three were on duty. Nobody could have an argu-

ment with the Minister and ! not with the’ department, the district officer of the department (Mr D. L. Hogan) replied. The department’s atti- ; tude was that Waimairi was : as well served as anywhere in New Zealand, if not better. In Waimairi, where there were 50,000 people, there had : been only one fatal accident ; this year, and in 1965, for example, there were only 150 : injury accidents. This was a • good record. ■ Enforcement was not the j whole answer, Mr Hogan said. ■ Good drivers did have acci- . dents, in fact good drivers ■ were having a lot of accidents, i Waimairi did get its fair > share of plain-car patrols, Mr ■ Hogan said. The county made an annual request for more • staff.