Engineers Call for Road Safety Plans
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—ROAD transport is mainly an engineering problem and we believe that many. if not most, of the road accidents today are due in some measure to engineering defects in the design and layout of our out-of-date highway system. Most accidents today are attributed to human error, but we believe many such errors spring from road conditions."
This was stated by Mr. 0. W. Gilmour, chairman of the executive committee of the Engineers' Guild. at a Press conference in London on
Tuesday. The Guild had, he said, submitted a detailed scheme to the Ministry of Transport more than three years ago. the introduction of which, it was believed, would make possible a substantial reduction in road accidents.
Briefly, the scheme proposed that professional engineers should examine the causes of serious accidents, holding public inquiries when necessary, and making recommendations for the improvement of roads and vehicles where faults in these had been found to be a contributory cause. Last autumn the Minister announced that road accident investigation officers would he appointed, apparently along the lines proposed by the Guild. When pressed in Parliament, the Minister did not make it clear when those officers were to be appointed, whether they would be qualified engineers, or whai would be their powers.
"If this action is to be capable of producing useful results, it is essential thai the officers appointed shall be properly qualified engineers, and that the remaining recommendations in the Guild's proposal arc implemented at the same time." said Mr. Gilmour.