DISTURBING FIGURES.

Waipa Post, Volume XXIV, Issue 1641, 14 May 1925, Page 4

DISTURBING FIGURES.

THE all pervading presence of the motor vehicle is one of the most conspicuous and distinguishing features of the age in which we live. Man pays the price .unfortunately, in more ways than one, for the advantages attendant on the introduction of this product of his inventive skill. Official statistics from the United States show that in 1924 motor vehicles caused the death of 19,000 persons throughout the country, and injury to 450,000, this representing a daily average of 52 killed and 1200 injured. The figures are nothing less than appalling, says the Otago Daily Times. 'They, read more like the results of -a military campaign than a mere record of the ordinary happenings of every day in a country at peace with itself and its neighbours. So much for the reverse of the picture presented by the statisticians who complacently calculate the "automobile density" of the various American iStates, discovering that California heads the field with a mctor vehicle for every three inhabitants, and that eleven States have now a motor vehicle for every five inhabitants or fewer. Of course, the unenviable experience of the United States in the matter of accidents due to motor vehicles is reflected in only a less degree in all countries in which the motor vehicle is freely used. Even in the case of New Zealand, where the population is small and there is still plenty of room to

move, hardly a day passes that does not bring its record of unfortunate consequences to somebody resulting from a motor accident. And as the number of motor vehicles increases the danger to.life and limb tends to come more and more serious. The prevalence of accidents points to the need for salutary punishment for those who are wantonly responsible for them. A case before a court this week illustrated the menace to which people are liable to be exposed at the hands of irresponsible persons in a motor car. The youths concerned in this disgraceful episode were dealt with severely, as their offence merited. Reckless driving, speeding and drunkenness on the part of persons in charge of motor vehicles should simply not be tolerated by the community. Apparently it is only in the deterrent influence of salutary punishment such as magistrates have begun to mete out to offenders that the public can expect to find reasonable protection. •