SAFETY ON THE ROAD

Taranaki Daily News, 5 June 1935, Page 5

SAFETY ON THE ROAD

RESULTS OF BRITISH CAMPAIGN. CHILDREN LACKING PLAY AREAS. British Official Wireless. Rec. 5.5 p.m. Rugby, June 3. During the House of Commons debate on the vote for the Ministry of Transport, the Minister, Mr. L. Hore-Belisha, referred in particular to the safety measures taken on the roads. Pedestrian crossings, of which 10,000 had. been.laid at London within three months, had undoubtedly been responsible for saving life and limb, he said. It was notable that at London, where safety measures so far had been chiefly taken, and in the country as a whole, the speed limit had made for a safer and more agreeable flow of traffic. A feature of the accident returns was the large number of children involved, 1171 of the 3517 pedestrians killed on the roads in 1935 being under 15 years old. Two departmental committees had been appointed to draw up a curriculum for the teaching of safety in schools. Undoubtedly many accidents occurred owing to lack of playgrounds for children. Notices of the regulations would as an experiment be given this week converting certain streets in Southwark and Paddington into children’s play streets. It was intended to erect notices at the end of the streets and paint the kerbs with green paint. The Ministry would do everything possible to provide for this year’s unexampled expansion of motoring in connection with the Government’s five years road plan. Programmes had already been received from about half of the highway authorities and further programmes were being received almost daily.