ROAD SAFETY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23083, 8 January 1937, Page 8

ROAD SAFETY

HOLIDAY ACCIDENT TOLL ANALYSIS BY MINISTER SOME ENCOURAGING FEATURES (Per United Press Association) WELLINGTON, Jan. 7. 'Although I am far from satisfied with the results already obtained from the accident prevention campaign, it is encouraging to observe that there has already been a considerable reduction in the death rate on the roads," said the Minister of Transport (Mr R. Semple) in a statement to-night. "The holiday rush is over, and perhaps we can now survey the mass of human wreckage that remains as part of the litter resultant from the celebration of a merry Christmas and a happy New Year. " Perhaps we can congratulate ourselves that this December was less deadly than last December," the Minister said, "because, according to the newspapers, only 20 persons were killed on the roads, as compared with 24 last December. Of the 20 persons killed, two of them were children. Only 97 others were seriously injured. We do not know how many others were not so seriously injured, but we can count another 118 who merely suffered from such discomforts as fractured noses, lacerated faces and mild We must not be too optimistic, hotfever. because so many of the seriously injured victims'are still in so grave a condition that possibly last December's death roll of 24 may yet be eclipsed. Again, the two months may not be strictly comparable. Five persons were killed between December 23 and the end of the year, including four on Christmas Eve, while during the same period last year nine lost their lives. ROAD MANNERS IMPROVE

'Traffic inspectors inform me that, in general, the motorists were reasonably considerate and showed very fair road manners this Christmas," said Mr Semple. "Cases of wild and reckless driving were comparatively rare, and drunkenness at the wheel was less common. During the first eight months of 1936 160 persons lost their lives, compared with 125 during the corresponding period of the previous year, an increase of 35. Since September, when the prevention campaign began to take effect, each month has shown a reduction in deaths as compared with the figure for the corresponding months of the previous year. September, 1936, showed eight fewer than Septemebr, 1935; October, two fewer; November, seven fewer; and December four fewer. "If allowance is made for the increase of about 13 per cent in the volume of traffic on the road the tally of 75 deaths during September, October, November, and December would be equivalent to the total for the same four months of 1935," said Mr Semple. "Actually 45 persons have been killed, with 45 persons have been killed, with the possibility that a few others may yet succumb to their injuries. It can fairly be claimed, however, that approximately 30 lives have been saved during the last four months as a result of the steps already taken. Added encouragement is contained in the fact that notification of only one road fatality occurring since December 27 has yet reached me, and it is now January 7. This means that for 10 consecutive days during the holiday period there has been only one death. Without being unduly optimistic, I think we can look forward fairly confidently to January being comparatively free from road tragedy. We have made a good start—only one death so far—and there are reasonable grounds for assuming that the factors contributing most heavily to the numerous December smashes will be greatly diminished from now on.

THE PRESENT SPEED LIMIT "It is impossible," the Minister continued, " to achieve great reforms overnight. As yet the proposed strengthening of the traffic control forces has not been completed, the 30-miles-an-hour speed limit in populated areas is not fully observed, the compulsory inspection of motor vehicles is not in operation, and the investigations and recommendations of the Road Safety Council have not been completed. These steps and several others will be carried out this year, and if necessary I intend to persist until the roads are made reasonably safe for all users.

If the records for the New Year show that the 30 miles-an-hour limit is too high in view of the number of smashes due to excessive speed in the circumstances the speed will be lowered.

"The figures for the last several months have convinced me," Mr Semple said, "that notwithstanding the fatalistic utterances of those who claim that accidents will happen in the best regulated families, the toll of the road can be substantially reduced. It depends partly on the thoroughness with which I and my colleagues in the field of transport do our jobs, and I trust that in the final analysis the people of this country will find that our efforts were well worth while. There has been some adverse criticism with reference to the 30-miles-an-hour speed limit in boroughs, but this is the maximum speed, not the minimum. "There is one other matter to which I must refer There has been some anonymous criticism to the effect that I have appointed only two additional traffic inspectors," concluded the Minister "As a matter of fact 12 additional appointments have been made. It will not be the fault of the Transport Department if the present rate of accidents is not considerably reduced in the future."