Annual Damage By Motor

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 166, 4 October 1927, Page 6

Annual Damage By Motor

Hints on Avoiding Trouble Some Useful Tips TIME and. again the opinion has been expressed in these columns that the greater number of motoring accidents are avoidable. This means that perhaps 90 per cent, of the mishaps have been due to carelessness, negligence, or incompetence on the part of the drivers.

gTATISTICS show that month by month the number of accidents in Auckland keeps steadily Increasing. Discarding for the moment the obviously serious position of injury or loss of life to those concerned, there Is the

question of direct material loss of thousands of pounds annually as a direct result of these collisions. Ninety per cent, of this loss, and 90 per cent, of the casualties, could be avoided if everyone at all times acted strictly on the principles of “safety first.” It is not for a moment suggested that drivers should go along in fear and trembling, with a foot pressing on the foot brake. Not at all! Confidence must be retained in both machine and self. Pedestrians and other road-users will, however, persist in doing the most unexpected, and unreasonable things,

and so they must be constantly “nursed” by the motor driver. No one is infallible, and where the human element is concerned especially in the second or third dimension, . mistakes will be made, and accidents will occur. It cannot be denied,. however, that if all drivers allow a reasonable safety margin to work upon when driving mistakes would be few and far between. The driver’s lot is one hedged by serious obligations and responsibilities, but he must always be sure, and

leave a margin to come and go on. The few accompanying sketches have been prepared to show the necessity for sound judgment and care when driving. In Figure 1 the touring car driver lias attempted to pass the lorry on the inside at a street intersection. This is a practice fraught with grave risk, and should never be attempted under any circumstances. Figure 2 is an illustration of poor judgment and carelessness. This accident may have been avoided had the driver waited a moment, and in any

case he should have noticed the tramline converging toward the footpath. In Figure 3 the driver of the touring car has attempted to pass the tram on the outside, and has not allowed a sufficient safety margin, with the result that the tram approaching in the opposite direction has pinned him beneath the two. This situation arises far too often, and even if the driver avoids a smash by swerving further to the right he is still in serious danger of meeting traffic masked by the approaching tram. The acceleration of electric trams is swift, and is quite frequently underestimated. Figure 4 is an obvious illustration of carelessness. With hood up, the

car has been backed out from the kerb without the driver having first made sure of the condition of traffic.