The Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, MAY 17th, 1939. ACCIDENT INCREASE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 12, 17 May 1939, Page 4

The Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, MAY 17th, 1939. ACCIDENT INCREASE

In view of the intense road safety campaign of the past few months the tragic: toll of lfe taken in road accidents in April was extreme!;/ disappointing. In the year ended on March 31 fatal road accidents per 1000 vehicles were reduced by 10.4 per cent, but in April fatalities rose to 33—probably the highest total for any one month on record. It is certain that intihat period there was a relaxation of the road caution engendered by the earlier campaign, showing that the number of accidents is closely related to the degree of public awareness of the danger. The Minster of Transport, Mr. R. Semple, has decided that speed was responsible for a large proportion of the fatalities. He draws this conclusion from the fact that nearly half of the total number of deaths resulted from cars leaving the road without colliding with other vehicles. That lis a reasonable assumption- These are largely "one-man* accidents due too frequently to lack of caution on the part of the drivers. Six pedestrians fell victims to road accidents, some of which have been due to negligence on the part of either driver or pedestrian. Six collisions between motor vehicles resulted in nine deaths. Apparently only two deaths were caused in motor-cycle accidents, the victims being a rider and his pillion passenger. It was obvious to. any User of the road that there was a considerable relaxation of caution" when the lesson conveyed by the summer safety campaign had been forgotten. During the Easter holidays speeding was rampant and it is perhaps a matter for congratulation that there were not even more accidents. The approach of wintei lessening hours of daylight a.nd wet and slippery roads increases the danger and if this winter is not to produce a still more regrettable rectord of road tragedies, it is necessary that the motoring public should take its duties more Iseriously. Consideration for other road users is as much a duty for every drive c as care for his own personal safety.