Black-Out Dangers
The debate on road safety in the House of Commons on Tuesday produced no tangible results except the announce- ment of a twenty-mile speed-limit in built-up areas after dark and of a Ministry of Information safety-first campaign. The latter promises more useful results than the former. There is nothing at all to be said against the twenty-mile limit. No one ought to drive more than twenty miles an hour in towns during black-out. But the new regulation Is virtually unenforceable, and its chief value will be to estab- lish in the minds of motorists a speed which they ought to regard it as a matter of honour not to exceed. If Sir John Reith can inaugurate his reign in Bloomsbury by convincing pedestrians that their business is to look after their own safety—since the motorist, try as he may, cannot see a pedes- trian by the light the Government allows him—and that the best way to do that is to carry a torch, a sharp reduction in casualties should result. For the civilian on the ground to complain of the black-out is idle. In that matter the Govern- ment must be guided by the reports of skilled observers from the air. There is no relationship between the degree of dark- ness and the probability of air-raids. Restrictions cannot be relaxed so long as the danger of any raids at all exists.
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