ROAD SAFETY

Opunake Times, 26 August 1947, Page 3

ROAD SAFETY

JAYCEE CAMPAIGN ACCIDENT FIGURES The National Road Safety Campaign organised and conducted by the New Zealand Junior Chamber of Commerce, has met with considerable success. The campaign was decided upon at the Junior Chamber national convention in 1946 and, after consultation with various Government and local bodv transport authorities, it was decided to launch the campaign at the present time of the year, before the onset oi summer motoring. In essence the campaign has been one of publicity, centering about the slogan "Have a Care —Danger's There!" The theme underlying the slogan is the necessity (if every road user—motorist, pedestrian or v cyclist —exercising the utmost care and attention at all times. It is only in this way, the Junior Chamber believes, that road accidents can be reduced to a minimum and the roads made safe for all users. In its endeavour to impress this theme on the public the Junior Chamber has received widespread support from the business community, motorists' organisations and other bodies. Many newspaper advertisers have allowed their space to be used on road safety publicity, as a result of whicli the slogan "Have a Care Danger's There!" has reached out to a very large section of the immunity. Radio advertisers have similarly assisted the campaign. Other methods of publicity have been the distribution of posters and the preparation of accident "spot maps" for display in prominent places. Distribution has now been completed of the humorously illustrated booklet for children, entitled "Stanley the Safety Pup," of which 100,000 have been despatched to schools throughout the Dominion. The campaign will continue until next Saturday evening. High Death Rate ""Although deaths are not quite im to pre-war figures, they are rapidly increasing and injuries are alarmingly high" states the New Zealand Junior Chamber of Commerce in explanation of the road safety campaign. "Last year 191 persons were killed in road accidents, and no less than 4,035 wore injured. On an average, therefore, more than 11 New Zealand people were killed or injured in road accidents for every day of 1946." Speaking of post-war figures for accidents involving injury or dea'th, the Junior Chamber of Commerce states: "Figures in New Zealand are not as bad as in most other parts of the world, nor would we expect them to be when we compare our motoring conditions with theirs The question which concerns us is wheth' er we should be conteut to have a lessei per capita accident rate than some other countries? We do not think we should rest on any laurels which may come to us through having in comparison with other countries, relatively safe roads. On the contrary, it is our belief that very much more can be done in New Zealand to ensure absolute safety for all road users. "From a study of accidents, it is clear that the majority are due to human error, most of whicli could be avoided by the exercise of more care. For example, in those accidents where the driver of the vehicle was at fault, the greatest cause of urban accidents was the failure to keep to the left of the road. "With the exercise' of a little more care, drivers could avoid many of Hie dangers which their selfish and unthinking actions create. That is why the Junior Chambers of Commerce of New Zealand have chosen as the slogan for their national campaign for road safety—" Have a Carer—Danger's There!"