The Hawera Star. FRIDAY, AUGUST 15, 1924. ACCIDENTS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 15 August 1924, Page 4

The Hawera Star.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 15, 1924. ACCIDENTS.

Delivered eeerj evening by ft o’clock in Hawera Mauaia. N^rmauby. Okaiawa, Eitham, Pateo, Waverley, Mokoia, Wbakamara, Ou&ngar, Meremere, Fraser Boad. and Otakena Manutahi, Alton, Bnrleyville, Mangat-oki, Kaponga, Awatuna, Opunake,

While scientists, surgeons and doctors are doing their utmost to fight disease and to make it possible for human beings to live longer, there is an increasing number of accidents taking toll of life and limb. During the month of April thirty-two people died in the Dominion as the result of accidents, and in the following month the deaths of eighteen people were due to the same cause. Hardly a day passes without some serious accident being recorded, and as science has aided man to produce high speed machinery the risk of accident has increased greatly. On holidays lone has (often seen a large number of motors using the highways to and from some place of pleasure, and as they have passed at high speeds and following in close order one could not but think that the average speed has been too high and considerable unnecessary risk has been On such occasions car follows car at intervals of a few yards and travelling at probably thirty-five miles per hour, sometimes perhaps faster than that. One has thought of the disaster that might easily occur if one of the cars ahead without warning met with a mishap. Could those behind be pulled up in the few yards—the small margin of safety—and avert collisions? Or could they sheer off sufficiently to miss colliding with a disabled car ahead? Unfortunately, people driving the cars running at high speed do not seem to realise the risks they are taking when there is heavy traffic on the roads and when the cars follow; each other in close procession, and it is not till a crash comes that the danger is realised. The question of finding a satisfactory means of controlling motor traffic not only in the towns but on country roads is one which has occupied the attention of members of local bodies and motor associations for a long time past, but it seems that the problem is not to be easily solved. A Wellington remit to the New Zealand Automobile Conference suggested: “That ■the-law be amended to provide uniform speed limits throughout the Do'miniori, taking away the power of local bodies to impose restrictions at variance with those allowed through the country as a ■whole, and that such restrictions be on the following basis: Business streets, 15 miles per hour; residential streets, 20 miles per hour; open country, 30 miles per hour; across intersections, around corners, and past schools, 10 miles per hour.” Whether the speeds suggested in the remit would prove effective it is difficult to say, for the trouble is not the one car on an open road so much as the speed when the traffic is heavy. For cars following one another about ten yards apart, is, say, thirty-five miles an hour or even thirty miles an hour a safe speed? So much depends upon the experience' and temperament of drivers, that one hesitates to suggest speed limits that could be regarded as safe in all circumstances. Some people can remain calm and collected in any emergency and are expert at controlling the cars they drive; others again are easily excited and flustered if faced with a dangerous situation demanding qriick thought and decision. It can therefore be seen that people with strong nerves and- the power to think and act quickly if need be may handle a car at high speed safely, while others may not he capable, owing to their excitable dispositions, of averting accidents, though they themselves may drive comparatively slowly. But, whatever the causes, there are far too many accidents occurring in the Dominion, and with stricter control it should be possible to reduce the number very considerably. The Government has brought down its Motor Vehicles Bill, and in it proposals are made which, if they become law, should do much to put a stop to reckless driving. the penalties being heavy enough to impress upon any driver his responsibilities. The great number of accidents occurring in the Dominion due to motor traffic make it essential that better control be insisted upon, and that an effort be made to reduce the serious loss of life and limb which is taking place. It is hoped that the Government’s efforts will have the cooperation of motorists themselves, and that there will be fewer accidents in the future. The motor is an excellent servant, but a very dangerous master, and it becomes master when driven at an unreasonable speed and in a reckless manner. The problem is to make it the servant of each driver, and to insist that the driver shall realise that he must at all times be the master and have his car under control. • We hope that the Automobile Club which it is proposed to form at the meeting this evening will be able to do valuable work in this district in this direction. Some accidents are bound to occur, but it seems to us. that many which have occurred could have been averted had greater care been exeroised and oars kept more under control.