STREET ACCIDENTS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIX, Issue 20130, 10 June 1935, Page 6

STREET ACCIDENTS

CARELESSNESS THE PRIMARY CAUSE By Telegraph—Press Association WELLINGTON, June 8. That the primary cause of street accidents is carelessness on the part of both the car driver and the pedestrian is the concdusion drawn by the second annual report of the Street Accident Prevention Committee, based on a study of street accidents in Wellington during the year, in which period 894 accidents were reported, an increase of 20 per cent, compared with the previous year.

Some increase had been anticipated, as there was a 6 per cent. Increase in the volume of street traffic, but the Increase, states the report, was disturbingly high. Fatalities and serious injuries decreased, although minor personal injuries increased by 100 per cent. The number of fatalities was 9 against 17, but minor personal injuries numbered 290 against 145. Saturday was still the most dangerous day. Sunday being the least dangerous. The most dangerous hour was between 5 and 6 p.m. Other dangerous times were between noon and 1 o'clock, and between 3 and 4 p.m. The number of accidents at intersections increased, but did not equal the total of those at other points of the street. The causes leading to accidents, and attributed to the fault of the pedestrian, decreased. The report assumed that pedestrians were more careful than previously.