"ANXIETY AND STRAIN"

New Zealand Times, Volume L, Issue 11665, 1 November 1923, Page 10

"ANXIETY AND STRAIN"

CARELESS PEDESTRIANS. A NIGHTMARE TO MOTORISTS. Reference was made by Mr C. M. Banks, president of the Automobile •Club, at its meeting last night, to the “anxiety and strain thrown upon motorists by the careless and promiscuous manner in which pedestrians cross the streets.” “That so few get injured (said Mr Banks) is surprising; and I feel that I can compliment you on your vigilance, although, unfortunately, too many motorists themselves meet with accidents; and mostly, I fear, through excessive speed. Driving in the dark, and especially if the screen is wet, is, to a considerate and humane motorist, a nerve-racking experience—l might say a nightmare—as one never knows when or where a person may dart across the street from either side, and the difficulty of seeing through glass with reflections and shadows playing upon it, renders it necessary for a driver to be extremely alert. “I suppose none of you attempt to drive through a town, if it is raining, without leaving a small opening in the screen. I know that it 16 unpleasant for the occupants of the front seat to get wet; but I feel that the risk of driving under the- conditions mentioned, without providing for clear vision, which cannot be obtained through glass obscured by moisture, is one that you are not justified in taking, at least in the city.

“For the protection both of motorists and pedestrians, I wish to move the following motion: ‘That the City Council De again urged to allocate in the city definite crossing-places, and that a by-law be passed requiring the public to cross only at these places.’ The club should persist until this is done, and motorists would then be relieved of anxiety except at the crossings. The present danger to pedestrians would also be almost entirely removed, as the onus of avoiding accidents at the crossing could te thrown upon the motorists.” After some discussion, the matter was left to the incoming committee to deal with.