Car speeds and accidents

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32970, 17 July 1972, Page 12

Car speeds and accidents

Sir, —You motoring editor stated last Friday that most accidents occur at under 40 m.p.h. while accidents at higher speeds are rare in the extreme. A Ministry of Transport report published in November stated that some 377 fatal accidents occurred in rural areas where 55-60 m.p.h. applied; also many were one-car crashes: losing control on the open road, failing to take bends, hitting poles, etc. (Too fast for the conditions, yes,, but not all ordinary drivers are experts). If less acceleration and speed were built into many modem cars, perhaps many of these victims would still be alive. After all, does the ordinary motorist want 100 m.p.h. (illegal on public roads), or would he prefer less perform- ;

ance but get chrome that lasts, windows, doors and boot lids that don’t leak, exhaust systems lasting longer than 12 months, etc.—Yours, etc.,

INTERESTED. July 12, 1972. [Our motoring correspondent replies: “Accidents which occur in the 60 m.p.h. zone do not necessarily occur at 60 m.p.h. or more: it can often be a case of taking a 40 m.p.h. bend at 45 m.p.h. The article said that accidents ‘at the high speeds so feared by the writer are rare in the extreme. . . and that writer was referring to speeds of 100 to 150 m.p.h. The 1970 Ministry of Transport statistical statement shows 3790 injury accidents at 30 to 40 m.p.h. in that year compared with 290 at 60 m.p.h. and over—and 168 when vehicles were reversing. Those who drive too fast for the conditions are not only not experts, they are driving dangerously.”]