SLAUGHTER ON THE ROADS
Sm,—Under the heading " Slaughter on the Roads," The Times sum- marises the position as follows:
" The figures of fatal casualties on the roads are becoming extremely serious. During May 701 people were killed in road- accidents, an increase of 252 on the same month last year. The figure for April was 727, so that deaths are now occurring at the rate of nearly 9,000 a year . . .
" During May it was not dark during normal traffic-hours and, in fact, only about one-fifth of those killed perished during the hours of darkness."
All that has been done recently by the Transport Authority appears to have consisted of (i) reducing the speed of motor-cars in the " black-out " to zo miles an hour and (2) advising pedestrians to be more careful. Neither of these efforts to reduce the slaughter on the roads has had any effect in reducing the numbers of those killed. The time has come when something more should be done. In my opinion the speed in built-up areas should be reduced to 15 miles per hour and severe penalties should be attached to a breach of this regulation.
Secondly, if only a fifth of the deaths occur during the hours of darkness, it is still worth making some effort to prevent the death of this fifth. Death in the " black-opt " could, I think, be greatly reduced if pedestrians who go out in the " black-out " had to wear white strips round their clothing and see that their children are so pro- vided, and severe penalties should be provided for a breach of this rule. I trust that the appropriate authorities will see that some measure of this kind will be enacted so as to prevent the appalling loss of population that is occurring through slaughter on the roads.—Your
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