CASUALTY TOLL

Southland Times, Issue 22297, 12 April 1934, Page 7

CASUALTY TOLL

TRAFFIC IN BRITAIN.

SPEED LIMIT PROPOSED.

(British Official Wireless.) Rugby, April 10.

An unusual and striking opening to a Parliamentary speech was employed by the Transport Minister, Mr Oliver Stanley, in moving the second reading of the Road Traffic Bill. “I wonder whether it is realized,” said Mr Stanley, looking up at the clock, “that it is now 3.30, and that by 11 to-night on a basis of the law of averages, 180 people will have been injured on the roads of this country.” The House of Commons, he said, was alive to the gravity of the traffic problems, although opinions differed as to ihe most effective methods of reducing the casualty toll. He argued in favour of the main features of the Bill, which involves drastic changes in the law and provides, inter alia, a speed limit of 30 miles an hour in built-up areas, a test for new drivers, the establishment of pedestrian crossings, and amendments regarding compulsory insurance. Mr J. T. Moore-Brabazon described the Bill, which was read a second time, as panic legislation.