24 OCTOBER 1941, Page 13

ROAD DEATHS

sm,—The pedestrians and the pedal-cyclists cannot share the admira- tion of the Report of the Lords' Committee on Road Accidents which is expressed on behalf of the motor-cyclists by Mr. S. A. Davis. The main aim of that Committee was to make conditions easy for the driving of motor-vehicles at high speeds, however incautiously, and there are striking examples of incorrect quotation of statistics and of illogical inference from statistics, which were produced by that atti- tude. They argue, for instance, that speed-limits are useless, because more accidents occurred in the speed-limited areas (estimated at Woo miles) than in the remaining 120,000 miles ; whereas, if pro- portion to road-users is considered, as it ought to be, the speed- limited areas show some advantage for all accidents and a conspicuous advantage for fatal accidents. The Report contains some useful sug- gestions, but the spirit of the Report is such that the chairman could hardly be trusted to select some of its recommendations for imme- diate application. I enclose a copy of a pamphlet which comments