Pedestrian Faults

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31768, 27 August 1968, Page 7

Pedestrian Faults

Last year there were 1560 accidents on New Zealand roads which involved pedestrians, the Transport Department says. One hundred and nine pedestrians were killed, and 1566 were injured. But in only 23 per cent of the accidents was the blame attributed to someone other than the pedestrian himself.

The illustration shows the causes of the 1205 accidents in which the pedestrian was mainly to blame.

It can be seen that the three main causes which accounted for two-thirds of the accidents involved the simple failure of the pedestrian to carry out the kerb drill which is taught to children in schools: Look right, look left, look right again, and if the way is clear walk swiftly across.

That adults fail to observe this simple procedure and become involved in so many

accidents is tragic enough, but perhaps even more serious is the bad example they set for children, the department says. The dedicated work which teachers, traffic instructors and the children themselves put into learning kerb drill is seriously compromised by the irresponsible behaviour of the adult pedestrians they see ignoring the simple rules every day, the department says.