MOTOR FATALITIES

Evening Star, Issue 22083, 17 July 1935, Page 14

MOTOR FATALITIES

182 KILLED IK YEAR OVER ONE THOUSAND DIE IH SIX YEARS Statistics of motor accidents in New Zealand for the 12 months ended on’ March 31 show that in that period a greater number of accidents occurred and a greater number of persons were killed than in any similar period since 1931. There were 174 fatal accidents and 182 were' killed. In the previous 12 months 125 accidents occurred and 135 were killed The downward trend since 1931 has suddenly ceased, and the figures have jumped bade to where they were in 1930. In six years 1,050 persons have been killed. The totals of persons killed in motor accidents follow the same general^movements as the totals of fatal accidents, and for the last six years are as follow : 1930 186 1931 247 1932 157 1933 ... ... 143 • 1934 135 1935 ... 182 Total 1,050 The Tranport Department classifies the persons killed in motor accidents as follow’: —Pedestrians, motor cyclists, occupants of other motor vehicles, riders on vehicles not motor_ vehicles and horses. Other motor vehicles ’(all motor vehicles except motor cycles) lead with .66 d ea fhs, and then come motor cyclists (48), pedestrians (45), and other vehicles or horses (23). _ In the previous 12 months 26 pedestrians were killed, which was the lowest figure for several years. LEADING CAUSES. The number of fatal accidents as distinct from persons killed in the last six years are as follow.— 1930 172 1931 221 . 1932 148 ’1933 140 1934 125 1935 174 Total ... ... ... 980 The leading causes of these fatalities in 1935 were collisions between motor vehicles and pedestrians (46), collisions between motor vehicles (36). collisions between motor vehicles and bicycles (23), unclassified causes (23), vehicles going over banks (22), collisions between motor vehicles and trains (10), collisions between motor vehicles and fixed object (7), collisions between' motor vehicles and horse vehicles or horses under control (3). collisions between motor > vehicles and trams (2), and collisions between motor vehicles and straying stock (2). The recent increase is distributed among all these classifications, the only decrease being in unclassified accidents. The late afternoon and early evening remain the periods of the day when accidents are most frequent. Saturday is still the day when more fatal accidents occur than any other. Auckland city and its environs, with 27 accidents in the last 12 months period; had nearly twice as many as Wellington and environs (14), while Christchurch city and environs had 15. Most accidents occur in the country. Private motor cars form the largest class of vehicle involved in accidents ; with motor v cycles next, and lorries and vans following.