CARELESS METHODS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23055, 4 December 1936, Page 5

CARELESS METHODS

SOME FAILINGS TO AVOID IMPATIENCE A BAD FAULT We have all heard of the " downward path." Most of us (states a writer in the Autocar) consider it a good joke and regard the possibility of' our treading it with incredulity; but motoring, unless we are particularly careful, offers one of the easiest means of transport down the decline! Impatience is the primary cause of probably 75 per cent, of the total accidents on the road. It is a fault of all users of the road. A pedestrian, too impatient to wait until the way is clear before attempting to cross a street, or a motorist travelling a mile or so an hour faster than is really necessary, may be involved in an accident which need not occur.

" Playing tag with death " is bad enough when it is indulged in by the young, agile, and ignorant, but for middle-aged and elderly people to practise it is suicidal. If they were not impatient they would not do if. An extra half-minute waiting for a clear road, a few more minutes on a motorist's journey, and many a life might be saved. We are no longer single units acting alone: what we do and the way we do it may rob people of life or save them from injury. There is little to be gained afterwards by argument as to who was to blame; everyone should make it a moral duty not to be to blame, and the exercise of a little more patience would be a big step in the right direction.

Many of the road accidents to-day

are caused by someone, again any user of the road, failing in a quality we all like to think we possess—consideration. If every road user—motorist, cyclist and pedestrian—lived up to his own estimation of himself the number of accidents would automatically be reduced, for the lack of consideration on someone's part is often the primary cause of a collision.

If every accident could be psychologically analysed it would undoubtedly be found that many of them are indirectly due to someone thinking only of himself. The parties involved in the accident may be quite innocent in this respect; in fact, the responsible party may not even be near the scene. For instance, people who efect illuminated signs where they may be mistaken for traffic- signals are an example, and dog owners who allow their pets to stray are another. Where motorists are concerned, drivers who leave their cars standing in awkward places—on or near blind bends and corners, for example—are a third.

The driver who overtakes a slower vehicle and cuts in to avoid another approaching from the opposite direction shows lack of consideration towards a fellow-motorist. It may be quite safe for the man who cuts in, and if the occupant of the overtaken car is at all nervous he may brake violently, and so bring about an accident of which the inconsiderate driver, who is by this time well away in front, may know nothing. When we see a pedestrian leisurely crossing the road it is our duty to presume that he or she cannot walk faster and act accordingly. There is such a thing as heart disease, and the older a person the more likelihood there is that violent movement would be harmful.

Further examples would be superfluous. Everyone knows what is meant by consideration for others; unfortunately, it is not everyone who practises it.