CHILDREN IN THE STREETS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 19 August 1933, Page 7

CHILDREN IN THE STREETS

CARE OF MOTORISTS NECESSARY SLOW SPEED NEAR PLAY GROUNDS “For the next two weeks the school children in this district will he taking the winter vacation, and the. time is opportune to appeal to motorists to exercise the greatest care where there is any tendency for the children to rise the streets‘as a playground,” says the lastest safety first message of the Canterbury Automobile Association (as reported in the “Press”). “In the enthusiasm of their games the children become careless so far as wheeled traffic is concerned,- and are apt to run out on to the road from gateways without any warning. It is a time when motorists should not use great speed in thickly-populated areas, and near parks and playgrounds. At the same time that motorists’ are appealed to there is a definite duty on the part of parents to see that their children do not use the roads as playgrounds. They should impress on them the dangers of motor vehicles, and teach them to make the fullest use of the parks, reserves, or enclosed spaces, available for them. , “This district has a very fine record in the freedom of children from serious accidents with motor vehicles, and that record will remain a good one if the motorists, the parents, and the children show the utmost care and co-operation. The last message given by teachers to children on the eve of break-up should deal with the necessity of playing in safety

THE TRAFFIC STREAM In its message last week, the association said: “There is an obvious carelessness ( among motorists, as well as the drivers of horse-drawn vehicles, in pulling out into the traffic stream from the kerbside. Not as much care as possible is shown by motorists in the way in which they get baqk into traffic after being parked. A distinctly dangerous tendency exists to drive out into the roadway without giving proper attention to the. needs of following vehicles, and another equally bad fault is that of “creeping” out into tho roadway. The first fault is an extremely risky procedure, and the second has the effect of causing indecision to cyclists and motorists following, thus holding traffic up. Then again cycles and other vehicles are driven out on to the crown of the road by the “creeping” , car. “Carelessness in emerging from the parking areas is evident in most streets in Christchurch, particularly in Colombo street, where the traffic position is accentuated by the presence of the trams. There is only one safe and proper way to emerge, and that is by waiting ready for a safe gap in traffic, and then moving smartly way from the kerb. No risks should be taken. A quick get-away will be made easy by leaving plenty of room between the front of one’s car and the back of the car in front.”