5000 KILLED YEARLY.

Grey River Argus, 14 December 1928, Page 5

5000 KILLED YEARLY.

In Road Accidents. STRINGENT MEASURES PROPOSED. TO EUSURE RELIABILITY OF DRIVERS. LONDON. December 12. In the Lords. Viscount Cecil moved the second reading of the Road Vehicles Bill, the object of which is to reduce the number of accidents. It provides that driving licenses shall only be granted after examination as to skill and physical fitness and compels drivers to insure against third-party risks. Thp license will be suspended automatically in the event of a conviction for dangerous incompetent driving. Lord Cecil described the present position as incredibly serious. Five thousand persons were killed and 250,000 injured yearly in road accidents. Road dangers were an outrage to humanity, and a disgrace to civilisation.

Lord Denman, moving the rejection }f the Bill, agreed with the necessity jf stiffening the law. but said motoring bodies held that the Bill would increase the number of accidents. Lc.d Londonderry, on behalf of the Government, said that everyone igreed a Motor Bill was necessary, but the regulations must be sympathetic, and must not hinder a young and flourishing industry. A Royal Commission was considering Lord Cecil’s points, and it was undesirable to legislate until it had reported.