DRINKING DRIVERS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 18, 21 July 1939, Page 11

DRINKING DRIVERS

ROAD ACCIDENTS

MINISTER'S CAMPAIGN

The Minister of Transport (the Hon. R. Semple) has no words --f praise for the drunken and the drinking driver, who, some day, he has many times said, will be as rare on New Zealand roads as the dodo. The degree of rej sponsibility of drinking drivers for ! road accidents is indicated by a aur- ! vey made by the Department for the twelve months to March 31. "During the year ended March 31 i last, 'liquor' accidents were responsible i for the death of 31 people, serious inijury to 142 others, and lesser injury •■ to another 179 —m all 352 casualties," , said Mr. Semple. "In addition to these accidents in which drivers were under the influence of liquor, .31 intoxicated pedestrians and five intoxicated bicyclists were involved in accidents. "While the severity of all accidents is represented •by one fatality for every 18 or 19 non-fatal, in cases where the driver was to some extent under i the influence of liquor, one accident in eight was fatal. Where the driver was definitely intoxicated, every sixth accident proved fatal." Mr. Semple said that collisions with j other motor vehicles were the pre-1 ! dominant type of accident in which I intoxicated drivers were involved. Coi-j lisions with cyclists and with telegraph j poles were also common. There were i 55 instances when ho other road user was involved. More than half of these accidents happened on country highways. They were most frequent during the evening hours, mainly from 5 o'clock to 9 o'clock, but also to a lesser extent until after midnight. Of all accidents involving liquor, nearly half (42.5 per cent.) occurred between 4 p.m. Saturday and 4 a.m. Sunday. ; An investigation of cases in which J drivers were under the influence of liquor revealed the fact that excessive speed was much more frequent in .these cases than in general Other frequent factors associated with these accidents were failure to keep to the correct side, inattention, failure to give way, and passing other vehicles negligently. '