Page image
Page image

H—4o

more pedestrians and also more cyclists were killed in 1948 than in any year since 1940. The toll of motor-cyclists was fewer by two deaths than during 1947, but was greater than in any other recent year. Fatal accidents occurring in daylight hours numbered 100, while 87 happened in hours of darkness. Forty-three of the latter occurred in built-up areas, and 44 on the open road. Eighty-nine of all the fatal accidents happened in built-up areas and 98 on rural roads. Of 28 collisions between motor-vehicles where a fatality resulted only 8 took place at night, but 31 of the 56 fatal collisions with pedestrians occurred after dark, as did 15 of the 27 collisions with bicyclists. Six collisions with trains at level-crossings resulted fatally. All of these occurred in daylight hours. There were no fatalities in 1948 caused through collisions between a motor-vehicle and a tram. Other fatal collisions —i.e., with fixed objects—numbered 17, 9of these occurring at night. Non-collisions, where the motor-vehicle overturned or left the road and caused a fatality, were 52, and of these, 23 happened in the dark. Particulars of All Accidents Reported {i.e., Fatal and Non-fatal), (see Table No. 9). —Of all accidents reported (3,593) some 2,550, or 71 per cent, happened in builtup areas, and 1,043, or 29 per cent, on the open road. In the towns 1 accident in 28 ended fatally, but on the rural roads 1 in every 11 proved fatal. There were 1,116 collisions between motor-vehicles, of which 734 occurred in builtup areas and 382 on the open road ; 825 collisions between motor-vehicles and pushcyclists, 742 in the towns and 83 on the open road, and 763 collisions with pedestrians, 674 of which took place in the town and 89 outside the built-up areas. In addition, there were-.399 accidents (43 ending in a fatality) where the motor-vehicle overturned, drove over the bank, or otherwise left the road ; 99 of these occurred in built-up areas and 300 on country roads or highways. Other accidents were as follows : Collisions with a telegraph pole .. .. .. 145 (9 fatal). Persons falling from a vehicle .. .. .. .. 73 (8 fatal). Collisions with a train .. .. .. .. 30 (6 fatal). Collisions with a-tram .. .. .. 34 (none fatal). Collisions with an animal .. .. .. 27 (none fatal). Other collisions and miscellaneous accidents .. .. 181 (10 fatal). The severity of the main types of accident can be gauged as follows : Type of Accident. Severity. Collisions with railway train .. .. 1 in 5 proved fatal. Drove off roadway or over the bank .. .. .. 1„ 7 „ Person fell from vehicle .. .. .. .. 1„ 9 „ Overturned on the roadway .. .. .. 1 ~ 12 „ Collision with pedestrian .. .. .. .. 1„ 14 „ Collision with telegraph pole.. .. .. .. 1 ~ 16 „ Collision with cyclist .. .. .. 1 ~ 31 „ Collision with another motor-vehicle .. .. 1„ 40 „ Distribution oe Accidents (see Tables Nos. 10 and 11). Of the 2,550 accidents in built-up areas, 1,431 (including 55 fatal accidents) occurred in the four main centres of population, and 341 (including 9 fatal) in one or other of the secondary cities. Accidents on the State highway system totalled 547, with 50 of them resulting fatally.

13

Log in or create a Papers Past website account

Use your Papers Past website account to correct newspaper text.

By creating and using this account you agree to our terms of use.

Log in with RealMe®

If you’ve used a RealMe login somewhere else, you can use it here too. If you don’t already have a username and password, just click Log in and you can choose to create one.


Log in again to continue your work

Your session has expired.

Log in again with RealMe®


Alert