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TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS: 1923 FIGURES-1924 HOPES.

26th February 1924
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Page 9, 26th February 1924 — TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS: 1923 FIGURES-1924 HOPES.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Statistics Which Reveal the Fact That Redoubled Efforts are Needed on the Part of the " Safety First" Organizations to Reduce Street Accidents.

IT WILL be remembered be many of our readers that a few weeks ago Mr, H.. E. Blain, C.B.E., chairman of the London " Safety First" Council, gave a number of informative details relating to street, accidents in London during the first nine months of last. year. At that time he related the strenuous efforts which were being put forward by the Council in an endeavour to stimulate interest in the causes of street accidents, and, by thus educating the public, to reduce the number of accidents which, it is generally admitted, arise from carelessness on the part of pedestrians or to insufficient caution being exercised by vehicle drivers.

With the compilation of statistics for the whole of the year 1023, additional interest is imparted to the campaign of the Council, and at. the Middlesex Guildhall recently Mr. Blain took an opportunity of reviewing the situation relating to traffic accidents in the Metropolis. _

In opening his review, Mr. Blain said that the past year had been a melancholy One in the history of London street accidents, the number of which -to persons and property had increased to the appalling total of 69,813. The figures relating to accidents in the Metropolitan Police area are lucidly ishown in the graph reproduced in the next column.

In considering the facts which are revealed by a perusal of this graph, one must not forget that, although the number of street. accidents has increased to what is admittedly an alarming extent, the number of vehicles which use the streets ' has also increased. Moreover, the number of street accidents is proportionately less now than at the period when fewer vehicles made use of the streets. Unfortunately, until the re-port of the census of traffic taken on Class 1 Roads by the Ministry of Transport in August, 1922, was issued recently, no reliable figures were available to indicate the growth in the number of vehicles in use. Our readers will gather we imply that if similar census figures be taken annually they will, in the course of a few years, prove invaluable when a comparison is being made between the nature density and class of traffic using our roads and the number of street accidents in which road vehicles are involved. Referring to the increase in the number of accidents, Mr. Blain holds' the view that the figures for the past year are bound to be much higher than previously owing to-the unprecedented increase in the number of mechanical vehieles, the number of uncertified drivers of private and commercial vehicles, the congestion at street inter-sections and.the general massing of traffic.

Fatal accidents declined in 1923 by eight, but increased in the concluding quarter of the year by 31. Fatal accidents during the period under review numbered 667 or 86 per million of the population. Making certain comparisons between traffic conditions in

New York, Paris and London, Mr. Blain referred to the fact, that in New York daring 1922 there were 964 fatal accidents, er 175 per million of the population,but this statement must be considered contemporaneously with the number of vehicles registered in each capital, which, in New York, is 300,000, and in London approximately 100,000, whilst the former city has only half the area of Loudon. In the whole of the United States of America 10,000 were killed in 1922, or 94 per million of the population, whilst in the United Kingdom in the same year 3,000 were killed, this figure being equivalent to 69 per million of the population.

The accident situation in all countries where road transport is extending rapidly is, it is interesting to note, more or less the •same. In support of this statement Paris is cited as another example. The number of accidents to persons and property in the French capital for 1923 was 109,425, or 24,306 per million of the population, the comparable figures for London being 69,813. or 9,008 per million of the population. The following table, -showing in a comparative form details of the accidents to persons and property in London and Paris for the past year, is worthy of close study Those who are familiar with traffic conditions in the two eilics will appreciate to the full the reasons for the divergence in the figures relating to the total number of accidents in which various types of road vehicle are involved.

Mr. Blain lays stress on the fact that these comparisons with the American and French capitals are not made to emphasize the advantageous position of London, but rather to show the need for redoubled energy on the part of the "Safety First" Council and of all those concerned with the problem of reducing street accidents. At the last meeting of the Cotincil reference was made to the increasing number of traffic accidents in the provinces. A closer analysis has now been made, and the chart which is reproduced herewith shows that the number of accidents in London from 1918 to 1922 increased by 65 per cent., whereas in the rest of Great Britain.they increased by 110 per cent. in the same period. The disparity in these figures surely shows that assiduous efforts are needed on the part of the newly formed National "Safety First' Association in order to reduce the dangers to 'road users and pedestrians in the provinces.

Returning to the situation in London, Mr. Blain gave a comparative classification in order to show the class of vehicle involved in street accidents during the years 1922 and 1923. From this it was to be seen that the total number of accidents had increased by 12,640, equivalent to a percentage of 22, in a period of twelve months. From these statistics it is clear that the main volume of accidents is shown to be due to private motorcars, to which trade and commercial motor vehicles take second place. It is the Council's belief that until all motor-vehicle drivers are required to pass a proficiency test, as in the case of those men who are to drive public-service vehicles, the accidents caused by motor vehicles of all types are not likely to diminish but rather greatly to increase, particularly in view of the upward trend of traffic. It is desirable also, it is' pointed out, that driving instructors should be registered and licensed. We extract the following from the concluding portion of Mr: 131ain's review :—" Whilst the report of this year's accidents is the worst on record, it should be remembered that with the new era of mechanical transport and the increased demand for speed and weight, old habits. die hard, It is the earnest endeavour of this Council [London "Safety First" Council] to infuse into road users of all classes a more lively understanding and vivid realization that old methods of driving and traffic regulations have gone by the board."

Tags

People: E. Blain
Locations: New York, Paris, London

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