KILLED ON ROAD

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 253, 22 July 1936, Page 10

KILLED ON ROAD

Forty-seven Victims

Since May

“A TERRIBLE RECORD”

Mr. Semple Says Slaughter Must Be Stopped “Forty-seven deaths by motor accident have occurred on New Zealand roads since the Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill was introduced in Parliament early in June, and the number of hit-and-run cases has doubled,” said the Minister of Transport, Hon. R. Semple, in an interview yesterday. “It is a terrible record, and it has got to be stopped. I am satisfied that 90 per cent, are preventable. The Minister said that such figures fully justified the introduction of the Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill, which would be given further consideration in Parliament this week. The measure would be ineffective unless there was complete unanimity throughout the country. There was not the slightest doubt that there was a pressing need of one code of regulations for the whole of New Zealand. “I am convinced,” said Mr. Semple, “that there is a crying need for the examination of all cars and also for a provision that drivers should possess a certificate of physical fitness. It is my intention, as soon as the Bill is passed, to call a national conference of all those interested in planning a safety first campaign. I am satisfied that the Government will have'to arrange for lessons in the schools by moans of films, wireless and every other available method. Much Reckless Driving. “We want inspectors to act not as prosecutors but as teachers. There is a tremendous amount of reckless driving in New Zealand. I notice it every day myself. It is within general observation. Drivers in pulling out from kerbs and parking places do not put their hand out or make any other signal, and there also is a lot of unnecessary passing of other cars on the road. I drive frequently from Parliament Buildings to my home in Kilblrnie, and daily I notice cars going through the traffic tunnel at 30 and 40 miles an hour in spite of the fact that the regulation speed is only 20 miles. “The toll of the road in New Zealand on a population basis is simply shocking. It is becoming a question of wholesale slaughter. Think of it: 47 fatalities in one month—it has to be stopped.” Mr. Semple said that his Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill had received an excellent reception from the local bodies to whom it had been referred, and only minor amendments had .been suggested. One important amendment referred to pedal bicycles. In the original Bill the registration of bicycles had been provided for, but it had been decided to leave this to local bodies. Another amendment would provide that purchasers of new cars, on paying a fee of a shilling, would be given the right to examine the past history of the car they were buying. In the past there bad been eases in which purchasers had been misled regarding the car they were purchasing, and it was obviously desirable to avoid this. There would* be a further amendment to provide that all private cars would be subject to periodical examination to ensure that they were in good order before they were allowed on the road.