H—4o

22. Many more collisions took place in the towns (2,068) titan on the rural roads (685), but there were more non-collision accidents on the country highways (297) than in the built-up areas (113). 23. Distribution of Accidents (see Tables Nos. 8 and 9). —Sixty-nine per cent, of all accidents, but only 45 per cent, of all fatal accidents happened in the built-up areas. Some 40 per cent, of all accidents and 24 per cent, of fatal accidents took place in one of the four main centres. 24. On the open road 346 accidents took place on the State highway system, which includes the main arterial routes and the most densely trafficked sections of the rural roading system. This averages 1 accident every 11 miles of the 3,800 miles of this system. On the other main highways, of which there are about 8,300 miles, there were 412 accidents, or 1 every 20 miles. The remainder of the rural roads, about 37,000 miles, mostly carries very light volumes of traffic. On these, 224 accidents were recorded, or 1 per 165 miles. 25. With the notable exceptions of Dunedin and Wanganui, most of the large urban areas showed a substantial increase in the number of accidents when compared with 1945 :

26. In Auckland and Wellington collisions with pedestrians were the most common type of accident, while in Christchurch collisions with cyclists predominated. In Invercargill, where last year the accident rate was very low, a considerable increase has taken place in the number of collisions between two motor-vehicles and between a motor-vehicle and a cyclist. These two types of accident are also only too numerous in Hamilton City. 27. The Number of Road-users killed or injured (see Table No. 10). —Occupants of motor-vehicles comprised 54 per cent, of all persons injured (including killed), pedestrians 18 per cent., cyclists 16 per cent., and motor-cyclists or pillion-riders 11 per cent. 28. Far more accidents took place in December than in any other month of 1946, but the three preceding months had been comparatively free from accidents. 29. More cyclists and pedestrians were injured during the winter months than at other times, June being the worst month of the year in this respect, with the exception of December. However, the winter months featured fewer motor-cyclists in accidents than in the other months of the year, the lightest toll occurring in July. 30. Accidents involving the Pre-sehool Child (see Table No. 11). —The year 1946 saw a marked increase in the number of accidents where very young children were injured on the road. Of the 75 children under five years of age who were struck down by a motor-vehicle, 2 were killed. The frequency of these accidents seems to indicate that there is need for a greater measure of supervision by parents over the activities of small children on or about the roads.

7

Number of Accidents. Increase. Centre. 1946. 1945. Number. Percentage. Auckland Metropolitan Area 552 427 125 29-3 Wellington City 281 246 35 14-2 Cliristchureh City 324 263 61 23-2 Dunedin City 112 106 6 23 5-7 Lower Hutt City 66 43 53-5 Palmerston North City 44 33 11 33-3 Wanganui City 43 40 3 7-5 Invercargill City .. .. • • 51 21 30 142-9 Hamilton City 75 42 33 78-5 Totals 1,548 1,221 327 26-8