From the health point of view we are living in a marvellous age. We are immunised from birth against many of the most dangerous diseases. A large number of once fatal illneses can now becured by modern  drugs and surgery.It is almost certain

that one day remedies will be found for the most stubborn remaining diseases. The expectation of life has increased enormously. But through the possibility of living a  long and happy  life is greater than ever before,every day we witness the incredible slaughter of men ,women and chidrn on the roads . Man versus the motor-car ! It is a never ending -  battle which man is losing. Thousands of people the world over are killed or horribly mutilated each year and we are quietly sitting  back and letting it happen.

 It has been rightly said that when a man is sitting behind a steering wheel his car  becomes the extension of his personality. There is no doubt that the motor -car often brings out a man's very worst qualities. People who are normally quiet and pleasant may become unrecognisable when they are behind a steering-wheel . They swear , they are ill-mannerd  and agressive , wilful as two -year - olds

s , disappointments and jealousies  seem to be brought to the surface by the act of driving.The surprising   thing  that  society smiles so benignly. on the motorist and seems to condone his behaviour. Everything is done for his convenience. Cities are allowed to become almost uninhabitable because of heavy traffic; towns are made ugly by huge car parks; the countryside is dececrated by road networks ;and the mass annual slaughter becomes nothing more than astatistic , to be conveniently forgotten.

It is high time a word code were created to reduce this senseless waste of human life. With regard to driving , the laws of some countries are notoroiusly lax and even the strictest are not strict enough. A code which was universally accepted could only have a dramatically beneficial effect on the accident rate. Here are a few examples of some of the things   that might be done. The driving test should standardised and made far more difficult than it is; all drivers should be made to take a test every  three  years or so; the age at which young people are allowed to drive any vehicle should be raised to at least 21; all vehicles should be put through stringent annual tests for safety. Even  the smallest ammount of alcohol in the blood can impair a person's driving a bility. Present drinking and driving laws should be made much stricter. Maximum and mimimum speed limits should be imposed on all  roads. Governments shoud lay down safety specificatios for manufactureres, as has been done in the USA. All advertising stressing power and performance  should be banned.These measures may sound inordinately harsh, but surely nothing should be considered  as too severe if it results in reducing the annual toll of human life.After all, the world is for human beings ,not motor-cars.