MOTOR FATALITIES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21349, 25 November 1932, Page 13

MOTOR FATALITIES

DECREASE LAST YEAR

HEAVY ECONOMIC LOSS

SAFEGUARDING THE PUBLIC

[by telegraph—special reporter]

WELLINGTON, Thursday

During the year ended March 31, 1932, there were 148 fatal motor-vehicle accidents in the Dominion, these resulting in the deaths of 157 persons, according to the annual report of the Transport Department, which was presented in the House of Representatives this afternoon. The report states that these figures show a decrease of 73 on the figures for the previous year, or approximately one-third in the number of accidents and a decrease of 90 or 36 per cent in the number of persons killed. Expressed in potential earning power, these 157 deaths represented approximately £550,000, and if the personal injuries suffered in the non-fatal accidents and the damage to motorvehicles were added to this figure, the total would come to well over £1,000,000. The annual economic loss by motor accidents was therefore a staggering sum. Proposals for the safeguarding of the public contained in the report include more stringent qualifications for drivers of both private and public vehicles, an absolute speed limit of 40 miles an hour for all motor-vehicles, in addition to the present provision that a speed in excess of 35 miles an hour shall lie prima facie evidence of dangerous driving, higher standards of braking efficiency, and the new system of numbering and registration plates, which it is anticipated will facilitate the enforcing of the motor laws.