Truth THE NATIONAL PAPER THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 1930. Level Crossing Lottery

NZ Truth, Issue 1272, 17 April 1930, Page 6

Truth THE NATIONAL PAPER THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 1930. Level Crossing Lottery

QNCE again the level crossing has taken " terrible toll of human life. The Hikurangi tragedy focusses attention on a, menace which calls for remedy irrespective of financial cost. It is no credit to the Legislature or the Railway Department that for many years there has been an incessant out-cr-y against the level-crossing danger and an insistent demand from every quarter for the maximum amount of protect! on_ to be accorded road users. Certainly m more recent years some steps have been taken to deal with the problem, but when it is remembered that there are 2561 level crossings m the two islands at which there are no audible or visible signals there is some excuse for the prevailing idea that the monetary cost is a far more weighty consideration than the risk to human life. Between 1909 and 1928, 150 persons were killed at raihyay level crossings, and 514 persons injured. And the mortality for the current year' is likely to be a heavy one. 'It must be regarded as a confession of national apathy, or inability to tackle and overcome obstacles or defections m the railway system, that only ninety level crossings out of 2561 m New Zealand have been equipped with warning devices. With apparent pride the Railway Department m June of last year directed attention m its official journal to the fact that while there had been 150 persons killed between the years 1909 and 1928 at level crossings, and 514 persons injured, the accidents to train passengers over the same period were nil. The Department's attitude is that its first obligation is to its passengers, and that the road-user must take care of himself. The law upholds' this view-point, but the Railway Department cannot ignore the moral responsibility involved. Some uniformity of action m dealing with the level crossing problem is called for, and a concerted plan to eliminate the most dangerous of these death-traps should be evolved. , A conference of local bodies, automobile associations, the Public Works Department and the Railway Department seems to be the most logical way to arrive at a programme for the expeditious equipment of all level crossings with either warning bells or compulsory stop apparatus. Removal of obstructions so as to afford clearer visibility for oncoming trains would do much to make many of these death traps safer until they 'could be given more extensive treatment. Further, the onus to stop at dangerous crossings, to "look and listen," should not be confined to drivers of motor vehicles. Train locomotive crews should be . instructed to at least slow down and blow their whistles vigorously to warn road traffic m the vicinity. The' present system is m the nature of a lottery for road travellers, and human life is too precious to sacrifice oh the altar of chance. .So vital is the issue that it warrants the immediate attention of Cabinet