TOO MANY ACCIDENTS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 27 January 1939, Page 3

TOO MANY ACCIDENTS

RECORDS OF DRIVERS PREVENTIVE WORK (United Pre*}, Asaociationi WELLINGTON. 26th January. Accident “repeaters'* and accidentprone drivers are to receive special attention this year, according to an announcement made by the Minister of Transport (the Hen. R. Semple) to-day. Such drivers could correct the cause of the accidents to the benefit of themselves and others, he said. “Insurance companies are familiar with the driver who is constantly making claims for bent mudguards and other property damage.'* said Air Semple. “Cases of three or four claims against a company in a year arc frequent, and one driver last year made six claims against his insurers. The Transport Department does not receive particulars of accidents in which no person is injured, but. from departmental reports, more than 180 persons have been involved in two or more accidents causing, personal injury in the last eighteen months. One driver had three personal-injury accidents in less than three months. The rather extraordinary fact was revealed by the departmental reports, that in five cases accident ‘repeaters’ had collided with each other; that is. they had ‘repeated' together. One of these double repeating accidents had ended fatally, and several of the other accidents had had fatal results. “Apart from the effect of keeping up insurance premiums. accident-prone drivers are a menace to everyone on the road.*' said the Minister. “Acci-dent-proneness exists in factories, mines, industry, and in the home. It is on the road, however, that its effects are likely to be of greatest danger to other members of the community.” INVESTIGATING CASES Mr Semple said that when the same driver was involved in two accidents causing personal injury (and there had been 180 instances of this in the last eighteen months), the case was referred by the Transport Department to the local authority where the driver resided. The recommendation was made that the driver be interviewed by a competent traffic officer and an investigation made of his driving characteristics and history. It was suggested also that an inquiry be made into possible driving weaknesses, such as faulty judgment of speed or distance, or defective reaction. The primary purpose of the investigation was to ascertain what drivers were having recurrent accidents and w r hy. To distover this was the first step towards eliminating these accidents. The diagnosis of driving faults might also assist “repeaters” to avoid their faults and traffic accidents in the future. The Minister mentioned that he had received a report of an investigation made in the United States of 1000 “accident repeaters” who had been involved in 1893 accidents in the six months prior to inquiry. The drivers were called into a special bureau for a consultation, during which their accidents were fully studied by speciallytrained men and a diagnosis made of the peculiar driving faults which had led to them. The drivers were instructed how to overcome faults shown by the diagnosis. During the six months subsequent to the investigation the same 1000 drivers had only 16 accidents. This suggested that “repeaters” might be cured of their acci-dent-proneness. If this could be done, both the accident figures and insurance premiums would greatly benefit.