THE ONLY WAY.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXVIII, Issue 4607, 9 October 1934, Page 3

THE ONLY WAY.

ACCIDENT PREVENTION. A DUTY ON EVERYONE. For some time past the public has been concerned about the enormous number of accidents that occur daily on the roads, writes an English motorist. Let us remember, he says, when we talk about the public that in reality we mean ourselves. We are rightly appalled at the figures, which mean fatality and injury. He contrasts road conditions with railways in regard to safety of operation. Railwaymen join the railway service as boys and are brought up in strict traditions; their livelihood and the well-being of their families depend upon their falling into line with the rules and methods of their company. Compare this with conditions on the road. Every Tom, Dick and Harry, Molly and Sue, have a car, a motor-cycle or a humble push bicycle. A vast, heterogeneous collection of people express the sense of freedom which money can give them by seeing as much as possible in as short a time as possible. You cannot enshroud these people with restrictions—there are far too many now. You cannot sack them for a breach as would the railway company. The attempts to reduce the toll of the roads by Act of Parliament or Standing Order are but poor palliatives—they have very little result, as has been seen.

So really we are thrown back on the only remedy, which is the endeavour to get people, whether pedestrians or motorists, to be a little less selfish and thoughtless. For these are actually the main reasons for accident. It may take years and it may mean that special measures of publicity and education will have to be adopted, but it is the only way. Every motorist has seen acts of thoughtlessness and selfishness that make for accident, and in his heart knows the truth. Perhaps the feature which should give most hope is that the higher proportion of mishaps is due to thoughtlessness rather than selfishness, although the latter is more terrible to observe. The cure is plain. When you can get road users to understand the crime of thoughtlessness and the risk involved in selfishness, which includes reckless speed, impatience, rivalry, taking risks, and a whole host of other things, then the job will be in some measure done. It can be done, and it will have to be done sooner or later.