AN ANALYSIS OF ACCIDENTS

Hawera Star, Volume LIII, 19 August 1933, Page 12

AN ANALYSIS OF ACCIDENTS

CROSS-ROAD FATALITIES. RESEARCH WORK IN ENGLAND. Conclusions that should prove veryvaluable are to be drawn from the statistical review of fatal road accidents, compiled by the research department of the National Safety First Association during the last six months of the year 1932, says “The Autocar. The object of the review is not to apportion' blame, but to indicate how the display of more road sense on the part of all* classes of highway users could 'contribute to the reduction of injury to life and limb. The number of fatal accidents investigated was 3629, ot which 8-1.7 per cent, were due to some failure of the human element. ()f the accidents in which collisions between vehicles occurred, 40 per cent, took place at road junctions. This fact immensely strengthens the argument in favour of giving definite priority at all cross-roads to traffic on one o f the roads concerned. Cross-road collisions are nearly always due to the “blind” nature of the crossing or to each driver considering that it is the other man’s business to slow up and give way. As long as any uncertainty m this connection is allowed to per-, sist. the number of accidents due to it will certainly not be reduced. Officially the objection to giving priority to one of the two roads at an ordinary highway crossing are two in number: first,'the “difficulty” of determining the relative importance of tho two roads, and, in the second place, the undesirability of allowing drivers on any road to feel that they need not exercise care at cross-roads. IMPORTANCE OF ROADS.

Neither objection is worthy' of serious consideration. As to the relative importance of the roads as traffic arteries, all that is necessary, where any' doubt can possibly exist, is tor the Minister of Transport's representative to say arbitrarily': “This road shall be considered the more important ’’ it should then be laid down definitely that the entire responsibility tor any accident at that crossing will rest on the shoulders of the driver oi the less important road. If it be thought desirable, there could even be an obligation imposed on the driver approaching the main road to bring his vehicle to rest before venturing out on to it. This simple arrangement might be annoying, but it would unquestionable reduce cross-road accidents to vanishing point In the United States of America it is common practice to make the secondary-road driver stop before crossing a main thoroughfare, and this policy' has had distinctly beneficial results.

As to allowing one driver to feel that he need not consider the possibility that other traffic may be approaching a crossing from a side road, it must be remembered that the reduction of accidents is the object in view, and this, as has been amply proved hitherto, cannot be achieved so long as the question of priority is left to be determined on the spur of the moment by the drivers of vehicles that roach a crossing simultaneously. In this matter practice is more important than principle. Far better give license to one driver than risk a fatal accident !