ROAD ACCIDENTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 112, 13 May 1937, Page 14

ROAD ACCIDENTS

THE CAUSES SURVEYED

Why. do road accidents occur? How are they to be prevented?, ■ These are the two questions raised by the Ministry of Transport analysis of 100,000 road accidents reported between April and September last year,; writes the motoring correspondent of the "Daily Telegraph."- ; According to the chief constables who assigned the sole or chief cause in each case, human error—drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians—was ■to blame for 88,000 accidents, faulty vehicles or equipment for 3300, tramways and road conditions together for 2500, and animals for 2100. This is apparently further confirmation of. the official view that 17 accidents in every 20 are the fault of road users. Many road engineers, surveyors, and other experts refuse to accept that view. Mr. G. T. Bennett, county surveyor of Oxfordshire, for instance, asks, if rdad conditions are responsible only for 2.5 per cent, of accidents, why does the Minister recommend so strongly to local authorities the modernising of all main roads with dual carriageways, footpaths, and cycle tracks? Why, also, does he declare it to be his own ambition to treat the 4500 miles of trunk roads, charge of which he took over recently, on the score of safety. OXFORDSHIRE ANALYSIS. An analysis of the 148 fatal accidents that have occurred in Oxfordshire during the past four years has just been completed by Mr. G. W. -Warr, Mr. Bennett's "accident officer." This attributes 10 per cent, of accidents to the absence of cycle tracks, 22 per cent, to the absence of dual carriageways, and 13 per cent.to,the absence of bypasses. In just over 24 per cent, of the cases was human error the sole cause. The rest of the fatal accidents would have been avoided, it is stated, if the roads conformed to Mr. HoreBelisha's recommendations. Another safety expert points out that the official analysis itself is inconsistent, since it records under "causes attributed to drivers" 2900 cases of skidding and several thousands of other accidents. Among these would be included head-on collisions on roads like the Kingston bypass, which were obviously preventable by better road conditions. Two points in particular have been commented on—the 8000 child victims under seven years of age, and the rising proportion of pedal cyclist accidents. It is noted that 7126 of the children were unaccompanied when they were hurt or killed. Regarding cyclists, further preventive action is contemplated. I understand that the Minister is now waiting the recommendations of an advisory council. That body is considering the replies tc its questionnaire, which asks the opinions of representative road-using bodies, cyclists included, on proposals to register cyclists, make rear lamps and cycle paths compulsory, and limit the age below which cycles may be ridden on the roads.