Abstract
THE report of the Select Committee of the House of Lords, appointed to consider what steps should be taken to reduce the number of casualties on the road, is discussed in Roads and Road Construction of May. It is pointed out that since 1910 the number of vehicles on the roads has increased twenty times, and in addition there has been a marked increase of mileage run per vehicle. During the same period the increase in road production is only about two per cent. The Committee is unable to accept the conelusions of the Ministry as to the causes to which these accidents are attributed. First, only one cause has been assigned to each accident, although the blame should be distributed in various proportions between road conditions, the road user, the vehicle and both parties involved in the collision. Secondly, the system of police reports on road accidents is often inadequate. Thirdly, the vehicles are sometimes so damaged that it is impossible to say whether they were defective or not. Fourthly, the Committee does not agree with the general principle on which the Ministry proceeds, that even if the condition of the roads and cars was unimpeachable the total of accidents would not be appreciably affected. The Committee believes that segregation of drivers, cyclists and pedestrians on the main roads must come and that the attainment of this ideal is essential if road safety is to be ensured. The highway code should be revised and it should be given the force of law. Witnesses before the Committee were strongly of opinion that an extensive and persistent campaign of educational propaganda should be undertaken and that it should be aimed at every class of road user. The improvement of main roads and the construction of new roads should be carried on simultaneously. ‘Lay-byes’ and ‘draw-ins’ should be made on every few miles of highway. The costly system of erecting kerbs should cease and guard posts should be erected 18 inches outside the edges of roads, at suitable intervals, sloping outwards at an angle of 15° from the vertical and provided with reflectors. Many other useful suggestions are made and we hope that some of them will be adopted.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Prevention of Road Accidents. Nature 143, 849–850 (1939). https://doi.org/10.1038/143849d0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/143849d0