A FATAL PERIOD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23648, 4 November 1938, Page 12

A FATAL PERIOD

LABOUR DAY WEEK-END HEAVY ROAD ACCIDENT TOLL DANGERS OF NIGHT DRIVING (Per United Press Association) WELLINGTON, Nov. 3. “ Fourteen lives were lost on the roads last month compared with 20 during October last year.” said the Minister of Transport (Mr R. Semple) to-day. Notable features of the month’s accidents, the Minister said, were a very bad Labour Day week-end, when eight lives were lost, a wonderful road safety record of 19 days without a fatality, and an enidemic of drunken driving towards the end of the month. “Nine of the 12 fatal accidents occurred at night.” Mr Semple said. “ Each of the three pedestrians was killed at night, the only cyclist killed lost his life at night, and there were five night collisions between motor vehicles, including one in which the rider of a motor cycle was pushing his machine. Eight of the 14 deaths occurred during the Labour Day week-end. The period between 6 p.m. and 1 a.m. was the most dangerous during the month, two-thirds of the deaths occurring between these hours.

“An interesting feature of the month’s fatal accidents,” the Minister said, “ is that they reflect the improvement shown every month since July in the accident rate outside the large towns and cities. The fatal accident rate in metropolitan and town areas has increased very seriously in proportion during this period. In October of last year 15 deaths occurred in the rural areas and five in the towns and cities. During this October. ‘ however, the deaths on rural roads have been reduced from 15 to 6, but the deaths in cities and large towns increased from five to eight. Auckland led with three fatalities. During the last three months the fatal accident rate on rural roads has been halved.”