The Press FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1968. Preventable Tragedies

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31867, 20 December 1968, Page 12

The Press FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1968. Preventable Tragedies

When the Christmas and Ndw Year holidays are over there will be at least a thousand New Zealanders mourning the recent deaths of members of their families. This prediction is based on the accident record of recent years. The saddest thing about these deaths is that nearly all of them are pneventable. Bathers are drowned mostly because they attempt to swim too far, or fail to allow for a rip or current Boating accidents, too. happen most often to the careless or the unwary', rarely to the well-prepared boat owner. Attention to elementary safety precautions ■would halve New Zealand's holiday accidents. Children must be told never to bathe on their own, non-swimmers never to venture beyond their depth. A set of simple rules can be devised for any family on holiday near a bathing spot: the rules should be explained and enforced by the parents. The mushroom growth of boating has opened up new hazards for holiday-makers, many of them inexperienced in boating. The family which has strained its budget to buy a boat may skimp on the “extras”—but an anchor, with plenty of rope, and lifejackets should never be considered as “extras”. The mountains and bush claim many lives which should not be lost. As in swimming or boating, in the mountains one of the first rules is that safety lies in numbers. The lone climber, tramper. or hunter has no-one to send for help if he injures himself. River crossing calls for special care. Snow-fed rivers, particularly, are dangerous: the peaceful stream of the early’ morning can become a raging torrent by nightfall. Tramping parties setting off without telling others of their intentions —or changing their plans without adequate reason—have caused relatives, and rescuers, much unnecessary worry. The greatest toll of lives in New Zealand accidents is taken on the highways —and motoring accidents are the most easily preventable. They are caused, typically, by excessive speed; and in far too many accidents drink is a contributory cause. The New Zealand law does not yet provide for compulsory blood testing; by next Christmas it probably will Breath-testers are now available in this country. A sensible party trick this year would be to invite party guests to test their breath with one of these devices; and a responsible host will arrange for anyone who fails the test to be driven home by someone fit to drive. Defective vehicles are another common contributory cause of road accidents, and the recent check by the Transport Department gives some cause for concern. Two hundred unsafe vehicles were ordered off the road in the two weeks of the campaign. Nearly’ 10 per cent of the 40.000 vehicles checked were found to be defective. While not all these defective vehicles were unsafe, many of them were, or could have been, a potential danger to their drivers and to other road users. An unsafe vehicle is more than ordinarilv unsafe on roads crowded with holiday traffic. Brakes, tyres, and lights are the commonest defects in cars. Any car owner who drives an unsafe vehicle is risking not only his own life but those of his passengers and other road users. Holiday accidents, or the great majority of them, are preventable: more attention to prevention is the only’ way to reduce this sad and unnecessary toll of the holiday season.