DEATH ON THE ROAD

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 21, 25 January 1934, Page 11

DEATH ON THE ROAD

BRITISH MOTOR TOLL

SOME FEASIBLE REFORMS

SPEED THE ENEMY

The report of the Ministry of Transport on the fatal road accidents for the first six, months of the year has been hailed by the speed maniacs as confirmation of their constantly reiterated view that it is not the pace of a motor-car that makes it dangerous, writes Viscount Cecil-in, the "Manchester Guardian." As a matter of fact, the report warrants no such conclusion. Excessive speed is declared to havo been the causo of no fewer than 265 deaths—by far the largest number attributed to any single fault of motor drivers. The compilers further point out that the estimate of the miles per hour at which a motor is travelling is quite untrustworthy, and that in reference to cases in which pedestrians have been thought to bo partly or mainly to blame the "speed of the Vehicle concerned has a material bearing on the accident." It is said in the tables attached to the report that in some 50 per cent, of the accidents the car was going at 20 miles, per hour or less! The Ministry, of Transport intimates that this is a statement which cannot be relied on. Indeed, if this statement is founded on more than the excited guesses of the 'drivers'of the cars, it can only be true of the actual moment of collision, by which time oven tho most reckless motorist would have applied his brakes and materially reduced speed. The critical moment is when ,the accident first appears probable, some yards before it occurs. If the car is then going at 40 or 50 miles an hour, as many if not most cars habitually do nowadays, it is obvious that both the motorist and the pedestrian will have less time to decide what to do, and it will be less possible to stop the car in time than if it were travelling more slowly. No amount of sophistry can alter that plain, inescapable fact. It is at the very centre of the problem. If road accidents have increased.by leaps and bounds since the motor replaced the horse, as they have, the chief reason is that the-momentum of-the car is far greater than, that of the horsedrawn carriage. ■ TWO SIGNIFICANT POINTS. There are two.interesting' sidelights on this question to bo dejjjived from the report. One is that accidents arc not at all common in mist or fog. Why? Simply and solely becausein those conditions it is impossible to go fast. The other point is even moro striking* Generally speaking, the number of collisions on the road varies directly with the amount of traffic of all kinds which it carries. Thus on Bank Holidays and Good Friday they are Very numerous. On ordinary days they are commonest .during the rush hours, ana so on. ' This is no doubt the reason why there are more of them on builtup roads than in tho open country. The most deadly of all spots arc thoso parts of towns, where, though there are a considerable, number of road-users, there are not so many as to prevent .fast driving. We all,know at what a terrific speed some motors go in the suburbs and in trie opener parts of tho towns. But in the City of London even Jehu could not have driven furiously; the traffic moves slowly, and iv consequence, though the streets are crowded with; pedestrians andj vehicles, only six people were killed in the six months, and of those only ono was Willed in the middle of the clay, when the streets are'jEull." A SPEED DIAL. Speed, then, is the enemy. How can it be controlled? The: best plan would be to have two classes of roads, one which would be treated like railways, fenced, off from casual passers-by and subject tb special, regulations permitting motor-users to drive as fast as they wished. On the, other class, available for general users, the speed would be strictly limited to twenty or at the most to thirty miles an hour, according to the- character; 'of the road. That reform is, however, a long way off. In the meantime those ears' and lorries which are subject to a speed-limit must be made" to keep the law. I do noli think that can be d6ne unless some means can be.devised to make it easier to detect breaches of the law. The old plan of police:traps>in a few spots was ineffective and in some cases oppressive. What ,is wanted, is some easy method by wbieh any policeman or other observer .can see at a glance what,is the pace of any car. There is no real difficulty about it. It would be quite easy, as an engineering matter, to fix an indicator at the back of the car'of such, a size and design as could bo clearly, read and •would show at what speed the car was travelling. The dial would naturally be lighted up at night and would be much more simple to read than tho number of the car. Where the car or lorry was subject to a speed-limit or whore a general limit was fixed for special towns or districts a law-breaker would be thus detected with facility. Nor does this plan require further legislation.. Under the existing Act the Minister of Transport can require, such indicators to be fixed by administrative order; FOOTPATHS. Again, special speed-limits ought to bo much more common. At present they can only come into jjeing if asked for by the local authority and approved by the Minister. In fact, I believe only ono such. speed-limit has been allowed, the practice being to refuse it unless there is some special reason why it should be granted. The rule should be the other-way. If a local authority desires to restrict speed in its district it should be permitted to do so unless there is strong reason to the contrary. One other immediate reform I would press for, and that is the provision of footpaths by the side of the principal country roads. At present tho hardships and danger are- very great, especially for children who havo to go to school along a road where motors dash along at fifty or sixty miles per" hour. Here, too, the Ministry could act by declining to mako any grant from the Koad Fund for road reconstruction or repair unless footpaths were provided.. ' There are many other reforms which would help, such as the imposition of tests for drivers, the conversion of the Highway Code from an advisory to a compulsory document, strengthening the law for dealing with negligent homicide, provision for .compensation without proof of negligence, and the like. But most, if not all, of these last proposals require legislation, which takes time. The other remedies I have suggested could be at least begun without delay. For prompt action is really essential. We cannot go> on allowing this horrible slaughter and mutilation by thousands to continue. It is a disgrace to our civilisation and, indeed, to our Christianity.