ROAD ACCIDENTS IN BRITAIN

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLII, Issue 20505, 25 August 1936, Page 7

ROAD ACCIDENTS IN BRITAIN

WHAT ARE THE MAIN CAUSES? INTERESTING CONCLUSION REACHED British Official Wireless RUGBY, August 22. A report has been published by the Ministry of Transport giving an analysis of over 6300 road accidents in 1935, involving the deaths of near 6500 people. The inquiry, which had been undertaken as part of a campaign for road safety, followed the same lines as that of 1933, except that for the first time publicity is given to the ascribed causes of the accidents on the basis of the police reports. Perhaps the most surprising fact revealed is that Sunday is the day of the week with the least accidents. Saturday has the most. Thirty-three per cent, of the accidents were the result of collisions between moving vehicles, and 47 per cent, of collisions between moving vehicles and pedestrians.

Thirty per cent, of the accidents occurred at road junctions, and 62 per cent, on straight roads or open roads and bends with good sight lines from Monday to Friday. The hours, of the day with the largest number of accidents is between 5 and 6 in the evening, and the second most dangerous hour is between 10 and 11 at night. Tables in the report show how the death curve among pedestrians descends rapidly after the age of 11 until it reaches its lowest point between 20 and 25, and then gradually rises again, steepening beyond the age of 50.

Ten per cent, of the pedestrians killed were under 5 years, while more than 50 per cent, of those killed while crossing the road were 60 years and over.