TRAFFIC NIGHTMARE

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 488, 18 October 1928, Page 9

TRAFFIC NIGHTMARE

DEATH TOLL IN BRITAIN 33,000 IN TEN YEARS (United Service) LONDON - , Wednesday. In a statement apropos of the Transport Commission the Home Secretary, Sir William Joynson-Hicks, says: England’s traffic problem lias become a nightmare. Thirty-three thousand people have been killed in the streets in the last 10 years. The hospitals are overcrowded as a result of motorists speeding. Coroners report that 40 per cent, of the fatal accidents are due to the carelessness of motorists, 35 to 40 per cent, to that of pedestrians, and the balance are equally due to defects in vehicles, the condition of the roads, fogs and cutting in. TRANSPORT COMMISSION

A British. Official Wireless message says the Royal Commission on Transport on Thursday will begin what is probably the biggest inquiry held in recent years. It is expected to take at least two years and to provide a basis for legislation which will radically change the transport system of Britain. The entire field of transport outside London—which will be treated separately under the London traffic pool scheme—is to be considered, including transport by sea, coa.st and ferries, with the object of organising it to the greatest public advantage. RIVAL INTERESTS

It will be the task of the commission to adjust the rival interests of the local authorities which own tramways and omnibuses, privato road transport interests and railways traffic. Experts, taking a long view, anticipate that the result will be the creation of transport pools for important areas in the provinces similar to the pool projected for London. Sir Arthur Griffith Boscawen, formerly Minister of Health, is chairman of the commission.