The Road-Massacre
Figures showing the substantial rise in road accidents, fatal and otherwise, that followed the doubling of the basic petrol ration in June tell a deplorable story. For the plain fact is that five-sixths of the accidents are avoidable. When a child rushes suddenly out of a doorway or a garden gate, or a cyclist swerves without notice across the road, a car-driver may be powerless to avert the resultant accident. Errors of judgement, to which some drivers are more prone than others, and which increasing experience does something to cure, are responsible for some of the trouble ; so is sheer carelessness, such as taking the eyes off the road to look at something of interest to right or left. Much more is the effect of bad driving pure and simple, such as overtaking on a curve or the crest of a hill or pulling out suddenly from behind a vehicle in front. Speed in itself does not cause accidents—on an open arterial road, for example ; speed in the wrong places, which does not mean only built-up areas, does. The worst feature of this slaughter is its acceptance as a normal feature of the national life. There is admittedly no one remedy. Safety-first lessons in schools have their value, but it is more impor- tant to teach motorists not to run over children than it is to teach children not to be run over. Somehow or other a safety-first mentality must be created in the driver. The B.B.C. should be more used ; the better type of roadside warning should be multiplied ; and flagrant offences against the Highway Code should be penalised (under the head of dangerous driving or driving without due care and attention), whether an Fcident results or not. Mere indifference 10 the slaughter is indefensible.
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