The Sun.
London, England, 1857-04-09 00:00:00

RAILWAY ACCIDENTS IN 1856.

A report of the railway accidents of last year is
embodied in a blue-book of some 80 pages. It
appears that in 1856 281 persons were killed and
394 injured on railroads in the united kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland. Of this number 112
were killed and 16 injured who were neither pas-
sengers nor servants of the railway companies, 142
killed and 80 injured who were servants of com-
panies or employes of contractors, and 27 killed and.
298 injured who were passengers. The first cate-
gory includes 2 persons who committed suicide, 67
killed, and 7 injured while trespassing, 28 killed
and 2 injured at level crossings, 1 killed and 2 in-
jured while on a bridge which was thrown down
by a load on a train, and 11 persons killed and 5
-injured by being run 'over or struck by trains at
stations. Of the servants of companies 30 were
killed and 46 injured from causes beyond their con-
trol, and 112 were killed and 34 injured owing to
misconduct or incautiousness. Of the latter 2 were
killed and 2 injured while shunting, 20 killed and
39 injured from accidents to trains, and 7 killed
and 5 injured from being run down or struck
by trains while discharging their duties. One
man, a guard, was killed by the blow of a bridge.
The greater number of those servants killed or in-
jured from want of caution were crushed between
buffers, run over, or fell from trains in motion.
There is a large annual number of 'victims from
being crushed between the buffers of carriages
which are being coupled together. Of the pas-
sengers eight were killed and 282 injured from
causes beyond their control, and 19 killed and 16
injured from incautiousness. Of the 71 accidents re-
ported on in 1856 it appears that in 7 cases only
were the accidents attributable to circumstances
which could not be guarded against, and that in
only three of the cases were the accidents solely at-
tributable to such circumstances. In 27 cases the
negligence of the inferior servants entered into the
cause of the accident. The remaining causes of ac-
cident are classed under the following heads—viz.,
(Moots in the construction of works or rolling
stock insufficiency of accommodation or ap-
pliances for safety—insufficient staff, and in-
adequacy of the system of working. A
general review of accidents reported since 1810
shows that the great majority of accidents are
attributable to causes over which the managers of
railways have control, but which, from negligence
or false economy, they do not remedy. What is
called " negligence" of servants in cases of accident
is often a habitual infringement of the regulations
with the guilty cognisance of the managers, or else
a iotactice which has grown up in the absence of
defined rules. " This," observes the report, "is
an important fact, because the public have a right
to require that the traffic on railways shall be con-
ducted with the greatest attainable degree of
safety." It is thought, on the other hand, that
freedom from railroad accident is not to be secured
by external interference, but by efficient and re-
sponsible internal management and the mainten-
ance of strict discipline. It is suggested that all
important railway accidents should be inquired
into publicly by a competent officer or tribunal,
the coroner's inquest being a tribunal ill-suited to
such inquiries.