Evening star., 1934-07-29

and the cases of injury run into the
hundreds Of thousands.
1t is probably true that the death
toll of he roads is higher in England
tina, anywhere else on the face of
the -4rth. This, of course, Is partly
due to the enormously higher pro-
portion of cars to the mileage of roads.
1t is six times higher than that of
France and more than ten times that
of Germany
But it is even more due to the
structure Of the English roads. Mo-
toring in France is chiefly confined to
the great military roads that strike
through the country with undeviat-
ing directneSs and with wide and un-
impeded vision. There are relatively
few crossroads and these are gener-
ally of a character which does not
invite exploration. But the roads of
England ramble through the country
in infinite curves and corners, and
vision is limited by the high hedge
rows that are so beautiful a feature
of the landscape but SO deadly dam
ger to modern high-speed traffic.
y 4 II y
Since the war some hundreds Of
millions have been spent out of the
income from the motor car and petrol
duties in constructing great bypass
roads for long distance traffic, but
these represent only an insignificant
proportion of the road mileage of
the country and it remains practically
true that the whole road system, con-
structed for the slow-moving, horse
drawn vehicles of the past, is utterly
untitled for the swift automobile traf-
f1c Of today.
Government after government,
faced with the growing menace of the
motor car to human life, has sought
to curb it by regulations that would
provide security without interfering
unduly with an industry which has
become one of the most important
business activities Of the country. But
with every new code of laws the road
massacre continues to rise. First, q
rigid speed limit Of 20 miles an hour
was fixed and the whole country be-
came system of police traps" de-
signed to capture offenders. But this
regulation broke down, much as pro-
hibition in America broke down, by
the sheer futility of the attempt to
enforce it.
Then four years ago the speed limit
was dropped altogether, and punish
ment was received not for fast driving
but for dangerous driving. Still the
figures mounted. The mortality rose
from 5000 to 1000 per annum and
is still rising.
4 Il
Ceaseless appeals to the public have
failed to check the holocaust, and the
Government has now brought in a
road traffic bill which aims among
other things at restricting the speed
limit. 1t is not the general 20-mile
limit which proved so incapable of
application in the past. 1t is a 30
mile limit made applicable, not to the
country generally. but to built-up
areas. Coupled with this regulation
is new system Of control Of street
crossings which will tend to slow down
urban speed and more strictly define
the rights of pedestrians and the
rights of drivers in towns.
Whether the new regulations will
have the desired effect remains to
be seen. One of the chief causes of
failure in the past has been the in
disposition of judicial benches and
iuries to infiict adequate punishment
for clearly proved offenses. It is
easy to get a verdict in a case of
damage only. but well-nigh impossible
to get a verdict of manslaughter
where recklessness or intoxication Is
alleged. Magistrates and juries alike
are all more or less interested parties
and are chary of making decisions
that would limit the liberties Of the
motorist.
There is a strong and growing pub
lie demand for more severe admins
tration Of the law as the only ef-
fective weapon against reckless driv-
ing, and it is urged that since the ex-
isting authorities fail to apply the
law stringently enough, special courts
should be established TO deal with
what the London Times calls "the
deepening tragedy of the roads. That
tragedy may and should be naoder-
ated, but it will never be abolished
while England remains such . mesh
of winding and hedge-lined roads
and lanes.
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