TRAFFIC COUNCIL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26545, 21 August 1947, Page 5

TRAFFIC COUNCIL

FORMATION SUPPORTED* EDUCATION IN SAFETY^ Warm approval of the proposal of the Junior Chamber of Commerce to sponsor the establishment of a representative traffic council in Dunedin was expressed by the chief traffic inspector, Mr E. H. Barrett, in an address to the board of the chamber this week. Mr Barrett said that (lie achievement of road safety was everybody's job, but unfortunately, the public generally was to-dav treating road accidents as inevitable. Tiffs was both erroneous and dangerous to public safety. It was the duty of every citizen actively to ass st in reducing such accidents to a minimum. He believed that education of the young people relative to traffic regulations was not being carried out to the greatest desirable extant. Such instruction as was given was limited to the primary schools. Fite secondary school child, however, was often a road user as well as a pedestrian, and it was consequently unwiste to omit definite instruction on traffic regulations as they applied to road safety in the case of these children. The alarming increase in “ accident prone " drivers was, lie believed, in no small degree atlr butable directly to the fact that many people operating vehicles to-day had received their instruction from friends and relatives, themselves possessing a limited and often erroneous conception of traffic regulations and an Imperfect knowledge of the vehicles they were driving, thus passing on their errors to their pupils. The only safe way of learning to drive a car was to take professional instruction. Mr Barrett said that In his opinion the more points oi view brought to bear upon traffic problems the greater would be the possibility of achieving a reasonable degree of immunity from road accidents. For this reason he was strongly in favour of the proposed traffic council which he envisaged as comprising representatives; from the Autoriiobilc Association. the insurance companies, the police, the Traffic Department, the taxi companies, the' carriers, the press, the churches, and other bodies interested. Suelt a council would be able to deal effectively with many of the problems which arise in relation to road safety. He also advocated junior cyclists’ clubs as a means of interetsing and educating young cycl'sts in road safety. Mr J. C. Scoular. chairman of the chamber's Projects Comnrttee, stated that it was hoped that within the next few weeks the first steps would be taken to implement tlie chamber's decision to sponsor the proposed traffic council.