Safety Council’s Proposals To Deal With Accident Rate

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 6, 11 October 1948, Page 5

Safety Council’s Proposals To Deal With Accident Rate

Failure to handle a tricky position, sometimes ordinary’ enough, is'the cause of a big proportion of motor accidents. The Road Safety believes that these “human failure” accidents often begin before a new driver obtains a license. So many drivers pick it up from a friend or relative, who picked it up, or maybe was a born driver in the first place. The council points iOut that a great deal more than ability to move through • traffic is needed—obvious from analysis of ; accident records. The Safety Council has a proposal to give prospective drivers an . opportnity of making a sound start. /Driving teachers, tutors or schools which satisfy the Transport Department of their competency, should 'be given official approval. Another conclusion of the council is that there is room for improvement and uniformity in testing for licenses. An age limit of *65 years has been suggested for testing officers, either, traffic officers •or local body employees, who themrselves have passed a strict examination in all-round competency. In the public interest it advocates re-testing of drivers who have 'been convicted on charges arising from accidents. Drivers who have become physically handicapped should also be resquired to take a new test, it says. Some steps have already been taken—as in the automatic cancellation of the license of a driver committed to a mental hospital— Tout the license of a driver with a consistently bad record cannot be -cancelled if he can pass a standard driving test.