Road toll rises 6.6 per cent

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33093, 7 December 1972, Page 18

Road toll rises 6.6 per cent

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, December 6. The road toll to the end of November increased by 6.6 per cent on the corresponding period last year, but driver and passenger deaths decreased by two to 427, according to the Ministry of Transport.

The increase has come through a rise in pedestrian deaths from 101 to 120, and in motor-cycle deaths—from 41 to 70. The total road toll for the period is 644, compared with 604 for the corresponding period last year. The Minister of Transport (Mr Gordon) said the reduction in driver and passenger deaths was probably because of the wider use of seat belts.

The toll of cyclists and power-cyclists had also been kept in check, with 25 dead this year, compared with 30 in the corresponding period of 1971, Mr Gordon said. CRASH HELMETS There had been a boom in motor-cycling, but this in itself was not an adequate explanation for the increase in motor-cycle deaths, he said. The increase in motor-cycle registrations did not match the increase in fatalities. “Nor does it excuse the fact that almost half those killed were not wearing safety helmets,” he said.

Mr Gordon said that almost 60 per cent of fatal accidents occurred at weekends, and that virtually all of the increase had been in built-up areas, rather than on rural roads.

“With the Christmas season almost here,” he said, “it is timely to remind all motorists that there will be large numbers of children about this month. “It is also timely to remind adult pedestrians of the need for greater care, and that alcohol contributes as much to pedestrian accidents as it does to multi-car collisions,” said Mr Gordon. To noon today, 656 traffic deaths this year had been reported to the Ministry. At the corresponding time last year, the total was 610. The toll this month was 12, compared with six at the corresponding time last December.