The Hawera Star. SATURDAY, MARCH 6, 1926. LEVEL CROSSINGS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 6 March 1926, Page 4

The Hawera Star.

SATURDAY, MARCH 6, 1926. LEVEL CROSSINGS.

Delivered every evening by 6 o’clock in Hawera, Manaia, Normanby, Okaiawa. Eitham, Mangatoki, Xaponga, Alton, Htirleyville, Pates, Waverlev, Mokola, Wbakamara. Ohangai, Meremere, Praeor Bead. and Ararat®.

1 “The department cannot stop the Limited express to let a man drive past in his buggy.” It is unfortunate that the secretary of the Railway Board of Management should have closed his defence of the department on the level crossings charge with a sentence which possibly may be interpreted as a defiance to the public. For, in the earlier part of his statement, the officer was generally reasonable in his interpretation of the law as it stands. That law disposes of the liability for crossing accidents in an engagingly simple manner—by placing all responsibility on the users of the road. Section 10 of the Railways Amendment Act, 1913, is thoroughly definite on the point:— Every person in charge of a motor or driving a motor on or along any road or street shall, when approaching a railway crossing, slacken speed when within one hundred yards of the crossing to a rate not exceeding ten miles an hour, and shall stop before coming in contact with the railway line. He shall also keep a vigilant look-out for approaching trains, and shall not attempt to pass over such crossing unless the line is clear, and shall not pass over such crossing at a greater speed than ten miles an hour.

And any who, not being motorists, may imagine that they come outside the law are fully provided for in section 25 of the main Act, which makes it an offence, punishable with a. tine of £:>o, fo: Drive or attempt to drive any vehicle or animal across a level crossing or elsewhere on a railway when an engine or any carriage or waggon on the railway is approaching, and is within half a mile from such crossing.

There is the law, foolish perhaps, tiresome no doubt so far as motorists are concerned, but nevertheless the law. And, so far as the department is aware, there is no instance on record of an accident having occurred where the clause first quoted has been complied with. If that be so, the department possibly.is lueky. But the fact remains

that, if every motorist wlio yets in the way of a train had stopped to satisfy himself that it was not approaching, most probably he would have escaped trouble. The president of the North Island Union came very close to the mark when he said that many accidents are due to day-dreaming; and the daydreaming driver is one who affects a lofty disregard for the law. We are net seeking to make out a case for level crossings, nor to belittle the danger which they hold for the road-using public, but it may be a trifle unfair to kick the- E ail way Department because heedless people will persist in blundering on to crossings under the very wheels of advancing engines. Thanks to these clauses in the statutes the department is clear of all legal responsibility, and in numbers of cases its moral liability is doubtful. Were e man to hedge his property about with notices to “Beware of the bull,’' he would not be held liable for any injury to a trespasser. Yet the only means of guarding absolutely against hurt to the public would be either to shoot the bull, or to erect a barbed wire fence which none could pass. On the department’s figures, there were ninety-one crossing accidents last year, sixtyeight with motor vehicles, fourteen with horse-drawn vehicles, six with pedestrians, two with bicycles and one with a horseman. Besides indicating the overwhelming preponderance of motor participants, these statistics show that it is possible still for those who employ less pretentious means of locomotion to come to grief at crossings. So, although some motorists may be careless and most of them may be in a hurry, it is apparent that there is a danger in the crossings apart from these contributory causes. In this case, the country cannot afford to shoot the bull, by closing the entire railway system; but the time has come to think about putting up a fence. “Railway crossing” signs and “Stop! Look out for the engine” notices do not warn people; ringing bells or “wigwag” signals should. But the elimination of the more dangerous level crossings by the provision of overhead bridges or subways would overcome the need for warning; and that is the way perfect safety lies. Unfortunately, it is also the way of greatest expense, and the Railway Department cannot face the cost except in a piecemeal fashion. The move by the Highways Board to have some definite policy laid down in regard to methods of meeting the difficulty, and the proopsal for joint consideration by road and rail authorities is, to say the least of it, not at all premature, and should have the support of the country as a whole. It will cost something to make all crossings safe, but, at the rate of accidents in the past fortnight, scores of lives would be saved every year if only they were made safe. It is probably too much to hope for the total abolition of level crossings on main roads, at least for several years, but it would help matters to have the installation of warning signal systems pushed on simultaneously with the work of bridging the more deadlv of these roadwav man- \ traps.