PERILS OF THE ROAD

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5289, 30 December 1946, Page 4

PERILS OF THE ROAD

I — *- \ ; QO far, considering the enorS mous amou-nt of holiday traffic on the highway's converging on. - Rotorua, the festive season has had fewer road accij dents than might have been . | feared, but the position is one j that calls for constant vigilance • by all road users. It is rather I ironical that one of the chief ; causes of caution should be con- | sideration for the state of the ! tyres on many vehicles when ' there are thousands of sets of ,• usable tyres still attached to , rusting and rotting ex-Army j vehicles. This sight may be observed to-day between Roto1 rua and Auckland. From this morning's news, however, it.is evident that we 1 j are not going to get through^the f I holiday period without further : j loss of life. The. road fatality : I figures for last month showed j that 14 people had been killed, bringing the total for 11 months of the year to 175, which is j higher than for the past five | years. In an effort to check the i j ominous increase in fatalities | the Transport Department re- ! cently launched a national road safety campaign. It has found that the chief causes of accidents are dxcessive speed, carelessness in observarice of the right-hand rule and, in holiday time, a carefree spirit which : stimulates^ some drivers to take | risks that in normal circumstances they would not contemplate. Heavy loading of a car so as to obstruct vision is discouraged and the advice is &iven j that night journeys, especially ■ after a day's work, should not be undertaken. Motor cyclists, j now to be seen in larger num- ; bers than for many years past, : have been cautioned against using the speed of which tlieir ! machines are capable. Of special importance to ' travellers in this region is the additional warning' of the risk I of forest fires. The closest watch can prove unavailing in eertain circumstances and it has been claimed that the throwing of cigarette butts from cars is a cause of what might possibly be ruinous conflagrations. In fact, the fires- are usually caused in isolated spots. A little forethought and care Will avoid a repetition of the difficult and dangerou's period early this year, when enormous damage' was done to exotic plantations, over 2500 men taken from important tasks and over £50,000 spent on fire-fighting operations.