CONTROL OF TRAFFIC.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19349, 9 June 1926, Page 10

CONTROL OF TRAFFIC.

NEW SOUTH WALES SYSTEM. PUBLIC SAFETY BUREAU. SPECIAL BRANCH OF POLICE. The introduction of the Public Safety Bureau by the Police Department in New South Wales, at first viewed by motorists with something like keen suspicion, has more than justified itself, according to figures that have been circulated. Several police squads have been set aside to tighten up the strict observation of traffic rules and regulations by motorists. The work of what has become known as the "blue car," a fast vehicle which appears on any road at any time, and the complement of which takes the numbers and summonses the drivers of cars infringing the regulations, has had remarkable results. But the work of the bureau has extended beyond that. Its members make suggestions to the authorities where they think that the provision of an extra traffic policeman would tend to mako any crossing safer for traffic and for pedestrians. Patrol cars also attend in the vicinity of schools opening on to main roads, and superintend the safe crossing of children after school and during recesses. In February the increase in the number of persons killed in street accidents in 1926, over the same month in 1925, was 100 per cent. But in March, when the new system was inaugurated, a similar comparison with last year's figures shows a decrease of 47 per cent. Deaths from motor vehicle accidents in February showed an increase of 75 per cent, on 1925, while in March they decreased 53 per cent. The number of killed by other vehicles in February increased 200 per cent, this year, but in March the numbers decreased by 50 per cent. The police authorities claim that the public has benefited materially by the work of the bureau, which has instilled into drivers of all vehicles the necessity for conforming with traffic regulations, and so obviate accidents caused by their divergence from the rule of • the road. Hundreds of drivers have been called before the courts to answer charges such as furious driving, speeding, driving to the danger of the public and driving while under the influence of liquor.