Suggestions for a Local Road Safety Campaign
| Date | 01 April 1947 |
| Published date | 01 April 1947 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X4702000211 |
| Author | E. M. Fewtrell |
| Subject Matter | Article |
THE
POLICE
JOURNAL
summarily when committed by adults,
but
a child must be tried
summarily for all crimes save Homicide unless he is jointly charged
with a young person or an adult.
The
offences set out in the Schedule, broadly speaking, comprise
those involving bodily injury or indecency to a child or young person.
G. S.
WILKINSON.
Suggestions for a Local Road Safety
Campaign
By
SERGT.
E. M.
FEWTRELL
Buckinghamshire
County
Constabulary
THE search for safety on the roads is by no means a new problem.
Well before the advent of the motor-car, casualties were causing
concern;
but
for 35 years at least (casualty figures for 1909 are avail-
able) it has been motor traffic that, in the main, has been responsible
for.
th,e
appalling toll of human life and the accompanying injury and
maimmg.
Although in the year before the commencement of the war great
success was achieved in the reduction of traffic accidents, the gravity of
the present situation is revealed by the figures for September,
1946-the
latest available. During this month 373 persons were killed on the
roads of Great Britain and 14,543 were injured.
Since the evolution of the motor-car the casualty figures have (with
the exception of the year 1936-7) risen in proportion to the number of
registered motor vehicles (THE
POLICE
JOURNAL,
Vol. XI, page 429),
and despite the fact that we anticipate a period of grace pending our
economic recovery it follows that post-war motoring will, unless drastic
steps are taken, provide even more alarming figures than those of
to-day.
Progress in road safety measures was, of course, held up by the
war. Until then our Legislature had made important contributions in
the form of modern laws governing the registration of motor vehicles,
their construction and use, the fitness of drivers and, last
but
not least,
speeds of motor vehicles.
The
Highway Code was introduced, and it is
important to remember that this is addressed to all persons who use the
roads-not
merely motorists. Following the introduction of the Road
Traffic Act, 1930, we saw
police"
Courtesy Cops," and there is little
doubt that the presence of these officers and the normal police patrols
on the roads helped to provide a better standard of driving.
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