H—4o

9. Annual Charges per Mile of Roads, Streets, &c. —The following table gives the approximate mileage of the three primary groups of roads, together with the corresponding expenditure upon maintenance and interest, &c., per mile of road for the year ended 31st March, 1944 :

Table No. 5 in the Appendix shows comparative figures for the years ended 31st March, 1934 to 1939, inclusive, and 1944. ROAD SAFETY A. ROAD ACCIDENT STATISTICS 10. The Number of Accidents. —During the calendar year 1945 there were 109 fatal motor accidents and 2,385 other accidents involving personal injury. As a result of these accidents 129 persons were killed and 3,307 injured. During 1944 there were 140 persons killed and 2,667 injured in a total of 2,097 accidents. This represents a drop of 8 per cent, in the number of persons killed, but an increase of 24 per cent, in the number of persons reported as being injured. New Zealand has the lowest death-rate of any of the motorized countries, and a comparison with Great Britain and two of the Australian States shows : Deaths jper 10,000 motor-vehicles in 1945 Great Britain .. .. .. 17*5 New South Wales .. .. ..13-6 Victoria .. .. .. ..10.8 New Zealand .. .. .. .. 4.3 11. Comparison of Fatal Accidents during the Past Six Years. —Table No. 6 in Appendix gives details of the fatal motor accidents for each of the calendar years 1940 to 1945 inclusive. A comparison of the various aspects of the fatal accidents during 1945 with those of the war years since 1940 shows — (i) A decided reduction in the total number of fatal accidents ; (ii) A.very marked drop in the number of fatal accidents that happened at night, particularly on the rural roads ; (iii) That collisions with cyclists, resulting in death, were much less frequent than previously ; (iv) That, although some improvement occurred in the number of fatal collisions between a motor-vehicle and a pedestrian, this was not as marked as the reduction in collisions with bicyclists. Those killed in 1945 included 68 occupants of motor-vehicles, 33 pedestrians, 15 riders of motor-cycles or pillion-riders, and 13 cyclists. 12. Particulars of all Accidents Reported {i.e., Fatal and Non-fatal). —Table No. 7 in the Appendix gives details of the types of motor accidents during the calendar year 1945. Collisions between motor-vehicles comprised 30 per cent, of all accidents, collisions with cyclists 24 per cent., and with pedestrians 23 per cent. Other collisions —i.e., with railway trains and tram-cars, with fixed objects such as telegraph-poles, with animals

5

Class of Road. Total Mileage. Annual Charges per Mile of Road, &c. Maintenance. Interest and Loan Charges. Total. Main highways Urban roads and streets Other roads All roads .. .. Miles. 12,398 4,285 36,766 £ 122 103 34 £ 42 163 32 • £ 164 266 66 53,449 60 45 105