TOLL OF THE MOTOR.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20644, 16 February 1929, Page 25

TOLL OF THE MOTOR.

NEW SOUTH WALES'S RECORD, 832 KILLED LAST TEAR, (From Our Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, February 7. The toll of the motor in Australia assuming largo proportions, and on';'all hands it is being recognised that a Serious positioiy is being reached. News of motor fatalities are becoming a commonplace, and it would seem that the time is rapidly approaching when the metropolitan Press will treat them in this way: “ The following were killed in motor accidents during the week-end. . . .” Even now there is a disinc' / tion to report accidents which are nut fatal.

Figures issued by the New South Wales police for last year"are indeed disquieting. They show that the death roll last year was 332, all due to motot accidents. In addition 7124 were injured, many of them seriously, and a large proportion maimed for life. In two years 605 people have been killed in motor accidents within in the State, and the number injured in the same period is more than 18,000. A large proportion- of those who were killed were pedestrians, and it is a moot point whether the pedestrians or the motorists should shoulder the greater part of the blame. The motorists say that the pedestrian is careless, and most of those people who do not own motor cars are only too ready to condemn the motorist. Probably it should be a case of share and share alike. Magistrates seem to be impressed With the seriousness of the position, and are becoming mote severe on drivers who ignore the traffic regulations. The other day, in Sydney, a drunken motorist who knocked flown a woman was fined £25, and he. was disqualified from holding a license for 10 years. That is a record disqualification, but will probably be a very effective warning. The Superintendent of Traffic, commenting on the year’s statistics, said that it was obvious that pedestrians and motorists failed to fully realise the necessity of complying with 'the traffic regulations, Every person owed a duty to the community in that respect in order to ensure the maximum benefit of the roadways for all, and to reduce the risk of accident to a minimum. . The aim of the police this year would be to again lessen the number of accidents, and to that end the regulations would be strictly enforced. He appealed to the public generally to assist the police by reporting all cases of traffic breaches that come under their notice, and he 'assured the people that the police would inquire carefully into every case and take .action when action was justified.