ROAD ACCIDENTS

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 72, Issue 6243, 17 June 1946, Page 6

ROAD ACCIDENTS

MANY DEATHS THIS YEAR WARNING BY COMMISSIONER OF TRANSPORT Road accidents involving motorvehicles have been responsible fqr 79 deaths this year, according to the Transport Department. During May, 15 deaths were recorded, 10 of which occurred at nightSix of the 15 fatalities were pedestrians, three motor-cyclists, five occupants of motor-vehicles, and one a cyclist. Commenting on these figures, the Commissioner of Transport, Mr G. L. Laurenson, said that unless road users exercised more care, the numbers of accidents would continue to increase. He also stressed the danger of driving vehicles with worn tyres at high speeds, especially on wet roads. “Shorter hours of daylight mean that more road users are now on the road at dusk and after dark when visibility is poor,” he said. “Rad .weather will decrease the visibility further, and wrongly adjusted, headlights may dazzle approaching traffic. Pedestrians crossing the street or walking along the highway at night are hard to pick up in the headlights. It is the exception to encounter pedestrians wearing or carrying something white, such as a newspaper or white handkerchief at night.”