Australian Road Casualties Worse Than War

Chronicle (Levin), 31 August 1949, Page 5

Australian Road Casualties Worse Than War

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Received Tuesdav, 7 p.m. • SYDNEY, August 30. Traffic autliorities and motorists' ovganisations throughout Au'stralia are . concentrating on a eampaign to educate the pnblie cone.erning highway dangers. The Australian Road Safety Council computes that the Australian battle casualties in the Second World War were 40.000 fewer than the number of people killed or injured 011 Australian roads in the same period. Last year over 14,000 road accidents occurred in New South Wales alone. and 564 people were killed and 9253 injured. Since petrol rationing was deelared invalid on June 6, the aceident toll has increased, apparently as the direct result of more cars staying longer on the roads. 194S was ' proportionately the worst traffic' casualtv year in New South Wales history, but last year produeed the biggest casualtv list. The authorities* are becoming' reeonciled to -the fact that no matter what measures are taken to educate drivers and pedestrtans, accidents continue to occur in direct ratio to tho number of vehicles on the roads. Ift 1938 four of every hundred motor vehicles in Netv South Wales were involved in accidents. ^Tie current figure is an improvement on this, but more than three of everv hundred vehicles figure in the casualtv lists. So far this year there have besn 364 deaths, compared with 345 during the same period in 1948. In twentyeigiit days this mcrnth there have been 43 road fatalities., During the weekend seven people died i'n the unprece- . deuted floods in northern New South Wales, but elsewhere in the State seven n.eoole were killed in what have come to be regarded as normal weekend accidonts. Though unrelenting camnaigns have resulted in slight decreases in accidents aliout Sydnev, casualties in Neweastle and country areas have risen. Contrary to all reason, na/row and difficult streets prove to be safer than straight roads. Nearly half the New South Wales casualties last year occurred on roads without bends or intersections, indicating that over-confidence on the part of the driver was the most common cause. Motor Cyclists' Bad Record Motor cyclists fared particulariy badly. Though there are nearly 600.000 licensed motor vehicle drivers in New South Wales and onlv 50,000 motor cyclists, last year more motor cyclists than drivers were killed or injured in road smashes. " An obvious deduction is that when motorists and cyclists convert their vehicles into uncontrollable missiles a vacuum developes between their ears from which all traces of good sense have heen purged, " eomments the Rydney Morning Herald. ' ' Many road safety campaigns here and in other countries have had disappointing re 3ults. Apparently the public has developed a eallousness that certainly would not exist if the same loss of life were being cansed by an epidemic. "