DRAMATIC SPEECH.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20277, 11 April 1934, Page 1

DRAMATIC SPEECH.

Minister Adopts Unusual Method. BRITISH ROAD TRAFFIC. British Official Wireless. (Received April 11, noon). RUGBY, April 10. An unusual and striking opening to a Parliamentary speech was employed by the Transport Minister, the Hon Oliver Stanley, in moving the second reading of the Road Traffic Bill. “ I wonder whether it is realised,” said Mr Stanley, looking up at the clock, “ that it is now 3.30 o’clock, and that by 11 o’clock to-night, on the basis of the law of averages, 180 people will have been injured on the roads of this country. ’ The House of Commons, he said, was alive to the gravity of the traffic problems, although opinions differed as to the most effective methods for reducing the casualty toll. He argued in favour of the main features of the Bill, which involved drastic changes in the law and provided, inter alia, a speed limit of 30 miles an hour in built-up areas, a test for new drivers, the establishment of pedestrian crossings and amendments regarding compulsory insurance.