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PREVENTABLE DEATHS
Under this heading are included a number of deaths which it
appears could have been avoided. During the last ten years over
200 Bermondsey people were killed as a result of violence. Of these,
one quarter died as a result of a motor vehicle accident, a further
quarter took their own lives, and the remainder died as a result of
some other accident.
Motor Vehicle Accidents
In regard to the 49 deaths from road accidents in the last
decade, there is most probably much that can be said, but the
salient factors are—
(1) Cars or motor-cycles are indeed lethal weapons.
(2) It is doubtful whether a number of drivers are really
capable of being responsible for their 'weapons on
account of the fact that they are mentally or physically
incapacitated.
Of the motor-cycle casualties, over half are men under the age
of 25 and three quarters less than 35. One can still be nearly blind,
stone deaf, or suffer from a number of diseases in which sudden
death may occur, but none of these factors need be divulged nor
appear to prevent many people from holding a driving licence.
Suicides
According to a report of the World Health Organisation, there
is some evidence that the trends of suicidal deaths in many countries
are falling, but that does not appear to be the case in this country.
In 1955 there were some 5,000 deaths reported by the Registrar
General due to this cause and a further 5,280 occurred in 1956.
Of the 45 that occurred in Bermondsey during the last ten years,
many of them appeared to be due to a lack of security despite the
so-called Welfare State. One man took his life because he was
behind with the rent; another because he was unable to adjust
himself to a new job; and a woman did so because she could not
get on with her husband.
One further point that may become of significance in regard to
potential suicides is the alteration in family structure. The closely
knit families of the slums are being broken up by the present
housing programme whereby the various generations may e
dispersed widely throughout the borough—some even going to
satellite towns. The weaker members of the tribe will have to live
an entirely independent existence away from Grannie or the in-laws.
Some may then be unable to cope with their apparently overwhelming
problems and either have a mental breakdown under the
stress or go to the extreme and take their own lives.
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