ROAD SAFETY RESEARCH
Page 55
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AFASCINATING account of the work carried out since 1946 by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research's Road Research Laboratory in the field of road-safely research was published in book form last week by Her Majesty's Stationery Office (" Research on Road Safety," price £2 25. net). The editorial work has been the responsibility of Mr. J. B. Behr, but all the staff of the Traffic and Safety Division of the R.R.L. have contributed to the contents of the book, which has 602 pages and is generously illustrated.
Following an introduction which deals with the road-safety problem and the need for research into same, the roadaccident situation is dealt with in considerable detail, with information as to where and when accidents happen,' cost of such accidents and notes on the methods of collecting accident statistics in the U.K. Figures are also given comparing road-fatality statistics between various countries. In the third chapter the pedestrian's position is discussed at length, whilst the subsequent chapter devotes a similar number of pages to the driver, this being followed by a short chlIpter dealing with the effect of alcohol on road safety. The effect of speed limits on accidents, road-safety propaganda and aspects of driving seats and visibility "are then reported on, after which come two significant chapters on vehicle and streetlighting systems, Chapter 11 is devoted to vehicle braking performance and methods of measuring this, and the final chapters are devoted to vehicle inspection, • crashinjury research and the skid-resisting properties of road surfaces and tyres.
The book contains a multitude of statistical facts about all the subjects referred to above, and in addition to providing original information about road safety gives ark account of how conclusions on the subject were arrived at. Although in many respects a highly technical work, the book is very clearly written and much should be readily understood by—and of great interest to— the ordinary man in the street, and in particular the not-so ordinary man in the vehicle. J.F.M.