SAFETY WEEK CAMPAIGN

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 136, 6 December 1938, Page 12

SAFETY WEEK CAMPAIGN

SEVERAL MINOR ACCIDENTS

TYPICAL OF ANY DAY

The "'All Clear" pennant stays up at the Town Hall, but Wellington did not get through the first day of Safety Week with an absolutely clear record, for there were several minor accidents and mishaps. Most of them were due to carelessness on the part of one or the other, or both, of the parties concerned. They could all have been avoided. The pennant is to be lowered if a serious accident occurs. Here are, typical accidents which happened after the pennant went up:— Willis Street, 3 p.m., pedestrian \'ersus car: A road sweeper stepped back into the side of a moving car; slight injuries only; none to the car. Ghuznee Street-Cuba Street, 3.55 p.m., lorry versus lorry: Lorry collided with rear of second lorry pulled up .in accordance with right-hand rule; slight damage*. Cambridge Terrace, Lower Hutt, 7.5 p.m., boy, 8J years, knocked from cycle by car. Boy's right thigh broken. Christmas has gone for that family. Aro Street and Ohiro Road, 7.45 p.m., car versus car: Driver explained that he was unable tc stop on account of defective brakes. Bay Road, Kilbirnie, 10.45 p.m.. pedestrian versus motor-car: Pedestrian crossing road walked into side of car, but was not injured. Driver actually put out his hand and stopped him. And .any number of near-accidents due-to careless, flashy, and just 'stupid behaviour. . • . MERELY A SHADE OF ..• , DIFFERENCE. : . • "Public-Safety," ; the journal of the National Safety Council of America, has something to- say, of trifling mishaps in, the October lfamber, thus: Did you ever stop, to think of the very small difference between a minor and a major traffic accident? In many cases, if the circumstances were altered just a little, a minor accident could have been a major tragedy, and vice versa. The, element of luck actually plays an important part in every accident—not in prevention or avoidance, but in the final result. It is reasonable to expect that drivers occasionally will be involved in accidents, but all things being equal, the driver who follows the principles of safe driving should be responsible for less damage than the unsafe driver. However, one slight circumstance in each case may have a lot to do with the amount of damage inflicted. The journal then gives cases of accidents that turned out rightly: A delivery van pulled up on a slope and was badly braked; it ran back, through a fence, over two lawns, and stopped 600 feet away from its first position. In one yard it rolled over a sand box where four or five children usually were playing, but had been called to lunch. Damage, 20 dollars for fences and shrubs and bent fenders. Contra-case: A driver pulled up his truck to deliver goods to a hospital, walked round to the rear and got his load in his arms; noticed the truck was moving forward. By the time he put his breakable goods down gently and< got back to the seat of his truck the damage had been done. The truck rolled forward eight feet and pinned the driver of another truck against his own vehicle. The man's back was broken. In one case a heavy truck ran 600 Ceet and nobody was hurt; in the other a truck.rolled eight feet and a man's back was broken. You never can tell! There is very little difference between a minor and a serious accident as far as the cause and general type are concerned. The important thing to remember is that simple safety measures would, have prevented the accidents in each case. Luck—good or ' bad —steps in when safety steps out.