TOLL OF THE MOTOR

Taranaki Daily News, 5 August 1930, Page 7

TOLL OF THE MOTOR

DEATHS IN ACCIDENTS DOMINION’S TRAGIC HALF-YEAR. increasing toll of life. i An analysis of motoring fatalities, made as complete as possible from a perusal of daily files, was published two months ago, giving the numbers of motoring., fatalities under various headings for the first four months of the year. The figures are now brought up-to-date, and, as then, show a very serious state of affairs. Already this year to July-31, a total of 134 fatalities reflultin" from accidents in which motor vehicles were involved have occurred on the roads and streets of the Dominion. As was pointed out in the previous x summary, this rate, worked out on a population basis, .is exceedingly- high, and emphasises once again the urgent necessity of the education of road users, as well as of pedestrians (whose deaths number but one-fifth of the total motoring fatalities), to sounder road practice. Whether this education can be made to reach those who most require it t—the reckless, the stupid and the careless —by means other than of compulflion, is doubtful. It is on country roads that the accident total is mostly built lip and, with very few exceptions, there is not a country road in the Dominion on which are patrol men detailed to safeguard the reckless driver from himself and sound drivers from. the reckless The stricter regulations and means of enforcement promised by-the Minister of Transport, following the recent inquiry 'in. Wellington into transport accidents, have not so far been further reported upon.

SEVEN MONTHS’ FIGURES.

RATE AS BAD AS SUMMER No attempt was made to compile figures of accidents resulting in serious injury, but not in death, as many such accidents are not telegraphed. The ratio of cases of serious injury to cases resulting in death has been found to be about°ll to one, so that during the past seven months motoring accidents —over-, turnings, knocking down of through the fault of either the walker or the driver, crossing smashes, etc — have resulted in 134 deaths, and at least 1500 cases of . injury requiring hospital or medical attention, irrespective of a much greater number of cases of lesser injury. The loss to the country totalled under these several headings is enormously great. It has been generally stated, and accepted, that motoring accidents are very much more frequent during the summer months than during the winter, but unfortunately the figures do not bear this out. On the contrary, there has been a monotonous regularity in the rate month after month. For the first four months, January, February, March and April, including the end of the New Year holiday rush and the Easter period, the total was 82 deaths, or 21 a month. For the seven months the total is 134 deaths, an average of just 19 deaths a month. MOST FREQUENT ACCIDENTS. The most serious single cause of fatal road accident is still the capsizing of cars ’ and lorries over banks or on bends, the 45 deaths so caused representing 33 per" cent, of the total. Pedestrian fatalities come next, about 20 per cent., then level-crossing smashes, 13.4 per cent.; then collisions between cars and motorcycles, 7.5 per cent. • There has been a slight improvement in the percentage of deaths from overturnings and skids, which has fallen from (the four months) 30 per cent, to 33 per cent., but the pedestrian fatality percentage has gone up from 17 to 20 per cent. Auckland appears to have the worst record of the four centres in this regard. Already this ■ year level-crossing smashes, have resulted in 18 deaths, which compares very badly indeed with i the figures for the whole of last year, when 19 persons were killed as a result of collisions between trains and motor vehicles. The tragic accidents at Whangarei and Sockburn, of course, were responsible for the high figure this year. Unless the latter part of the year shows a great improvement upon these first seven months, New Zealand will pile up by far her worst motoring fatality total. The total for 1929 was 197 deaths; already this year the figure is 134.

lA § □ J . bD <n 2 <U O £ I' 3 3 o . H Collisions — Between cars ■ 2 4 6 Car and motor-cycles 8 2 10 2 Car and lorry ...... 2 Car and bus 1 — 1 Lorry and motor-cycle — 4 4 7 Motor-cycles 5 2 Car and bicycle .... 7 *— 7 Motor-cycle and cycle —— 1 1 \ Vehicles over banks, skids, capsizes— 33 30 Cars 3 Motor-cycles 3 —• 3 Lorries 4 2 6 Falls from vehicles '.. 3 3 Level-crossing smashes 17 1 18 Tram and motor-cycle —. 1 1 Burns, fire in car .... 1 — 1 Proken motor-cycle forks 1 —• 1 Pedestrians killed .... 2 25 27 Totals 90 44 134