H—4o

1947 NEW ZEALAND

TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT (ANNUAL REPORT ON)

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Leave

The Hon. J. O'Brien, Minister of Transport, Wellington. Transport Department, 7th July, 1947. Sir, — Herewith I have the honour to submit the annual report of the Transport Department for the year ended 31st March, 1947. I have, &c., G. L. Laurenson, Commissioner of Transport.

REPORT

INTRODUCTION 1. Summary of Contents. —(a) The number of motor-vehicles licensed at 31st March, 1947 (330,922), showed an increase of 15,422, or 4*89 per cent., over the number at 31st March, 1946. (b) Petrol-consumption by mo tor-vehicles rose from 65,541,000 gallons in 1945 to 86,440,000 gallons in 1946, an increase of 32 per cent. (c) In 1946, 190 lives were lost and 4,144 persons were injured as the result of road accidents, compared with 129 killed and 3,307 injured in 1945, an overall increase in casualties of 26 per cent. (d) Despite an extension of road-safety instruction in schools, there was a marked increase in the number of young children of pre-school and school ages injured in road accidents. (e) Extension of road-safety publicity. (/) Comparative figures of fatalities from road accident per 10,000 motor-vehicles for 1946 show New Zealand, 6-1 ; United States of America, 10-0; Victoria, 12-6 ; New South Wales, 15*5 ; Great Britain, 17*4. (g) During the year ended 31st March, 1947, Traffic Inspectors attached to the Department reported 10,123 offences ; of these, 5,667 offenders were warned and 5,456 prosecuted. (h) A number of timber bridges on highways and rural roads are in such condition that drastic restrictions on loading are now necessary to safeguard the structures from failure. (i) Passenger volumes on public motor-passenger services (buses, service cars, and taxis) continue at very high levels. (j) Public road freight carriers continue to meet the demands of widening trade efficiently and smoothly, and, when the railways services have been restricted, have been able to give substantial assistance in the haulage of fertilizers, timber, and other commodities.