SAFETY ON THE ROADS.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 November 1932, Page 6

SAFETY ON THE ROADS.

According to the annual report of the Transport Department, 157 deaths were caused by motor accidents in New Zealand during the year which ended last March. To these casualties must be added the far greater number of people who were injured on the streets and roads of which the report gives no particulars. Every hospital authority in New Zealand is aware of the heavy toll that such accidents are taking, and the problem is one that is by no means confined to the Dominion. In the United Kingdom last year 6691 persons were killed and 202,119 injured through motor accidents. " These figures are startling, while the casualties in New Zealand are sufficient to raise the question whether better control cannot be developed. In England there are no speed limits, the one test being if driving were dangerous to the public. The list of casualties scarcely proves the English system to be entirely successful, but per head of population the death rate is less than that of

New Zealand, where speed limits are imposed. It seems to come back to the qualification of individual drivers, and the casualty returns are powerful support for stricter tests before licenses to drive are granted. The London traffic authorities considered that at 'least a third of the motor accidents in the Metropolitan area were directly due to inefficient driving, and there is little doubt but that the same cause obtains in New Zealand. There is also the duty of the pedestrian to remember that motor traffic has brought about conditions which must be recognised, for in many cases investigation has shown the blame for an accident does not rest with the motorist concerned. On the whole, the regulations in the Dominion appear to be working well and to be approaching nearer uniformity. The casualty list is too heavy to view with equanimity, but it does seem as though public opinion is forcing upon all road users some sense of their responsibilities.