The Paris-Madrid motor race which began on Sunday last produced
a series of accidents so serious, both to the public and to the automobilists, that it was stopped by official action when the competitors reach Bordeaux. Three persons on the road were killed and four automobilists. The chief cause of the accidents seems to have been the clouds of dust in which the competitors were enveloped. This, coupled with the uncontrollable character of very light cars fitted with engines of enormous power and the large number of competitors, made it almost certain that accidents would happen, though no one imagined that the destruction of life would be so great as it was. Such accidents are, happily, not likely to recur, as we may feel certain that no more road races will take place in the future. People have been made to realise that it is madness to hold motor-car races on public roads, and that just as it would be an act of criminal folly to race horses along the roads, so it is utterly indefensible to indulge in motor-car road-racing. Fortunately, owing to the special statutory arrangements made in the case of the Irish race, to the very small number of cars competing, and to the large number of police to be employed, there is very little likelihood of any disaster taking place in the Gordon- Bennett race; but this road race must be the last one in the British Islands. This is now universally recognised, and we are glad to see that the Automobile Club has arranged for an entirely private track for speed trials. As a matter of fact, no sensible person wishes to encourage the racing car. It
is utterly useless. You cannot breed from it as you can from a‘racehorse, and the minds of inventors are only turned away from perfecting the useful cars by the endeavour to obtain sensational speeds.
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