Fewer Traffic Deaths Although the Ministry of Transport is not
yet. in a position to publish the official totals of road accidents for 1935, forecasts based on up-to-date returns indicate a, welcome decline. It will be found that some 800 fewer fatal accidents have occurred this year, and that the total of injuries is less by 12,000. The details of the decline have yet to be analysed, but it is understood that no category shows an increase except that to which the Minister recently drew attention when he deplored the number of injuries to pedal cyclists. It is notable in this connexion that in the German returns for 1934 pedal cyclists figure more largely than pedestrians or motorists, yet the cyclist fatalities in that country were only just over half the corresponding number here. Mr. Hore-Belishafs attempts to establish cycle tracks, of which Germany has many more than this country, would seem to be justified. It is clear that the efforts of the Ministry of Transport to end the appalling tale of road injuries by legislation and publicity have met with considerable success, though there is still, unfortunately, much room for improvement. Greater traffic-consciousness on the part of cyclists and pedestrians, and deterrent sentences on offending motorists, should lead to further improve- ment in 1936.
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