ENG-1968 — Page 221

PUBLIC ORDER

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The year saw a return to normal criminal investigation operations following the disruption occasioned by the previous year's disturb- ances. Excellent results were achieved by all units of the CID and there was only a slight increase in the crime rate.

TRAFFIC

Pre-occupation with duties connected with confrontation during 1967 reduced enforcement of road traffic legislation with the result that by the beginning of 1968 the general standard of road behaviour of both motorists and pedestrians had deteriorated considerably. In the early months of the year enforcement returned to the pre- confrontation level but, in spite of this, accident figures continued to rise.

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In an attempt to reach the public and improve their conduct on the roads an education campaign was held during part of March and April. During this period 19,100 motorists were served with warning letters for minor traffic violations in lieu of summonses. The campaign also concentrated on pedestrians, and 3,600 were warned by letter for jay walking. In spite of this campaign, the number of traffic accidents rose even further, and stricter enforce- ment was resumed. A particular point of interest was the increase in the number of accidents involving buses, which gave rise to public comment.

Considerable use was made during the year of publicity through the press, radio and television net-works to bring home to the public the road casualty toll and the importance of road safety consciousness.

The road safety section of the traffic branch continued to teach road safety methods in schools and remained responsible for the organization, training and supervision of the highly successful school safety patrols. A total of 48 schools were active participants in this scheme; and there were 2,300 patrol members whose job it was to marshal school children across busy thoroughfares near their schools and to teach road safety behaviour by example to the younger children. A further 268 school crossing permits were issued during the year.

Despite these efforts in the cause of accident prevention, traffic accidents claimed 349 lives and injured a further 11,596 persons

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