28 JANUARY 1938, Page 36

Our Immediate Need The plain facts are that the sooner

we get at least a nucleus of roads specially reserved for high-speed traffic the sooner shall we see the beginning of a reduction of accidents. This is not to say that England wants a system so comprehensive as Germany, where military considerations must always come first, but the need for an arterial plan connecting London with the chief ports and the industrial centres, a plan of roads that would relieve the existing highways that are always being tinkered with and always at too deliberate a rate, is obvious enough.

What is obvious, however, is not always ministerially expedient and a sudden departure from a policy that has been so heavily boomed as the iroo million Five Year Plan is a great deal to expect. Miracles do very occasionally happen—and, after all, why did Mr. Burgin drive all those miles so very fast if he took interest only in the scenery ? Let us continue to hope.