The Waikato Times, THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE, AND KAWHIA ADVOCATE. Established Thirty-Four Years. THE OLDEST DAILY NEWSPAPER IN THE WAIKATO. THE LARGEST CIRCULATION OF ANY DAILY PAPER SOUTH OF AUCKLAND. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1906. "MOTOR MADNESS."

Waikato Times, Volume LVII, Issue 8087, 26 December 1906, Page 2

The Waikato Times, THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE, AND KAWHIA ADVOCATE. Established Thirty-Four Years. THE OLDEST DAILY NEWSPAPER IN THE WAIKATO. THE LARGEST CIRCULATION OF ANY DAILY PAPER SOUTH OF AUCKLAND. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1906. "MOTOR MADNESS."

lilt, recent terrible motor car accidents that have shocked New Zealand, have caused general eommtiijt on the regulation of the speed oi motor* v.'h"u nassiiiir throimh centres of [>i>j»ul.ition. As is alwavs the case in newspaper controversies on subjects respecting which people are thoroughly aroused, many excellent sugge-tions have been accompanied by as many wild, and impracticable meaniiri'S to cope v.itli the dillieulty, which, if given i; fleet tu would involve the prohibition u!

inut' •i -c;u > us a menu.- ul C'Mive}nii<e iiltogL'tlici. the lamentable accident in Hl- 11 illtr t in t lie ut iter day, which resulted in the 11 fill 11 ul Mi.-; Kensington lm- •>lll llml in the appearance in the I're-- ol tli" Kmpitc City of columns uf letters from lin 1 iirti;itit residents.. demanding that the >itei.-iI of iuotor \chicle.- In' res'ricted. und. it the stati'ineMniinie by some ol the correspondents be true, }hero would appear to be a very real need fur restraining the -peed uf tuu reckless motorists. Hut it must be remembered that the motor car which caused the regrettable accident in Laiii',t;;n '.'nay was not a conveyance privately ownui i'e.. -I're purposes. It was a fire engine, and at the tune of !h<' catastrophe was proceeding sit i not e.\co.-.-;ivc speed to assist in subduing a tire. Tie evidence give!! lit the ill'joe.st was nut conclu.sive un the unestio'.i ol speed, a most dillicult thing lor even an e-.-pelt 'o judge. One witness who said lie v,h- c indge ol speed, swore that the car turned the •"orner into Lambton at twenty-llvo n t u\.i iin hour. Of course any vehicle making a sharp turn while travelling at such a pace could not have retained its equilibrium. The driu.r. a man of wide ex[ierieuce, stated that the maximum speed of the engine was twenty-jive miles an hour, and in practice the maximum speed at which it was driven ou a down giaJe was twenty-three miles an hour, and probably the fastest speed at which he had cvci driven it would be twenty or twenty-one mile- per hour, lie turned the corner at about eight miles an hour. The cau-e ul the ac'iiTr.muHM iouably was nut the sliced atv. il. i 'L Mi!' : l:i; travelled, but the tact that the lad.i-- t: 11:-. c the htitiii not unnaturally became (lurried at the ...pin'oach of the engine, and endeavoured to cross ;n front of it. It may be said that the great advantage of the motor tire engine is the celerity with which it can reach a lire, and it, in consequence of an accident which would prubably have happened it any huge •••hide had turned the corner at that n uiLent, J.c -'need ol \\ ellington s mutoi eiiL'ire Is '.i L. J.i..;."'sbi'd. u> usefulness will to a large extent c.: appear. Appalling accidents liavo at vaiioii.-. tin.es: iwurred. on our railways, yet no one has been foiim, to seriously advocate that the speed of trains should be reduced in consei|Uence. A motor car pei'lurmuiL' such an important public duty a: thai which li gured in the Lambton ','uay accident, must be placed in an "I'tirely diileient category to thai s% inch mil <• 1 ' 11 the accident 011 the Riccarton Road, (. hj; ,is_i.l-'.:v<'li. a lew weeks auo, by which an A uci.n.i.. ics'dent lost hi- life. It i.- true thai muu) ov.'i.ei■. cf private cars display, a reckless disreL'uid Ju th'.u- u" r safety ami tliat ol uthe.s. auu Jijc;.• boitie.-. sliotiid make very I'ul! ii..e of the powers v-ivon them (•, r.-stri.'t the speed of suci; \ chicles It - p--sible to get the luaxinium 01 en joyment out uf a mo:ur spin, without endangering life and limb.