The Taranaki Herald. DAILY EVENING. TUESDAY, MAY 4, 1915. RULES OF THE ROAD.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 144671, 4 May 1915, Page 2

The Taranaki Herald. DAILY EVENING. TUESDAY, MAY 4, 1915. RULES OF THE ROAD.

The frequency of collisions on the roads points to the conclusion that there are many people in this neighbourhood who arc extremely | careless in their observance of the accepted rules of (he.road. One has, in fac(, only to drive or ride about a little and take particular notice of what one sees lo bo convinced that a large proportion of the people using the roads either have no knowledge of the rules that should guide them, or are extremely careless in their observance of them. The ever-increasing use of motor vehicles, which are, of course, faster than those drawn by horses, makes a much stricter attention to the rules of the road necessary than in the days when bullocks were a common means of traction. Yet there are many users of the roads who have failed to adapt themselves to the new conditions. The chief'offenders are country people, some of whom appear to take a delight in hindering motor traffic by declining to give passing loom until the very last moment, sometimes even forcing the motorist to take an unnecessary risk of a capsize or collision. Of course there are

“motor-hogs” as well, but motorists generally arc much more careful in their observance of the rules of the road than other people, They must of necessity be so, for their risks arc greater. But i very frequently they are com- | pelled to take the wrong side of I the road because of the ignorance j or carelessness of other users. As I an instance, the writer noticed a I day or two ago a car pass a cyclist on the wrong side, simply because the cyclist failed, though he .had plenty of warning, to move over to his left. Had he done so when the car was right on him, a fatal accident might have occurred, and the driver of the car would probably have been blamed for attempting to pass on his wrong side, while as a matter of facf it was the cyclist who a as at fault. A frequent cause of accident, or at any rate of hair-breadth escapes, is in the turning of corners in the busier parts of the town. Drivers have a habit of turning off Devon street, say into Currie Street, crossing the track of vehicles which are following them along Devon Street, | without giving any indication of I their intention or troubling to look round to see if anything is behind them. Wore they to make n practice of raising their arm to indicate their intention to turn across the traffic they would help to make tire streets much safer. Then there is the practice of driving without lights or with only one light, and that on the wrong side. Anyone who will take the (rouble to observe the traffic on the roads leading out of New Plymouth on a Saturday evening, just at or after dusk, will be surprised at the large proportion o 1 horse-drawn vehicles which are without lights. These careless people should remember that it is not only their own lives and limbs that they are endangering, but those of other people fdso. Drivers" of motorcars, as already stated, are generally careful in their observance of the rules of the road and of their lights, for their own safety if not for that of other people. There are some who drive recklessly fast through the town, and they should be proceeded against occasionally. The worst offenders amqng_mptpr-

ists are some of those who ride motor-cycles and career through 'the streets and along the country roads at an excessive speed, which is dangerous to themselves and to every other user of the road. One generally has warning of their approach .by the noise they make with their exhausts open, hut this noise only adds to the terror they inspire among nervous horses and drivers. In. writing thus of the carelessness of drivers and riders we must not be understood as prejudging any of the parties in Saturday night's fatal accident. While the memory of that unfortunate affair is fresh, however, we wish to' impress upon all who use the roads, either riding motorcycles and ordinary bicycles, or driving motor or horse-drawn vehicles, the necessity for a far more careful observance of the rules of the road than is now the rase. New by-laws will, we understand, shortly come into force in tlie borough, and wp hope that those relating in traffic in the streets will he enforced by (he authorities, who should, in view of the early installation of electric tramways, make a point of breaking traflie in, as it were, for at present it is rather out of hand in many respects.