An Effective Front Lifeguard.
Page 47
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[3401] Sir,—Last week being Safety First Week I was reminded of an excellent safety device which I had the opportunity of seeing some months ago.
This device was merely a bumper carried on the front of the vehicle, lint which in operation prevented the possibility of any-part of the vehicle passing over any object, such as a live person. [The lifeguard in 'question is the Clifford Autosaver, which was described on page 470 of The Commercial Motor for November 18th, 1930.—En.]
I saw tests carried out with dummy figures and live men, and in every ease it was admirably satisfactory.
In practice the bumper is fixed in the usual position, but when struck by a victim, or released by the driver, it drops to within 2 ins, above the ground, spinning in a backward direction, the result being that the body is merely rolled over and over for a distance of a few yards, until such time as the vehicle is pulled up.
The sideguards, which are carried on buses to-day, have been effective to a certain extent, and I understand that the Minister of Transport is, in the future, compelling the use of these sideguards on all heavy vehicles. In view of this fact, and as by far the majority of accidents occur at the front of the vehicle, why have not front lifeguards also been made compulsory? The statistics of those killed and injured by motor vehicles has steadily increased in the past few years. Last year pedestrians killed in Great Britain numbered nearly 4,000 people and there were about 70,000 injured. The cost of this device is comparatively small, somewhere about £10, and whatever expenditure was incurred should be retrieved by the insurance companies offering a reduction in their third-party premiums.
The result of this would, obviously, be the saving all round of both money and lives.
Your journal has, I know, always been a pioneer of any sound safety-first principle, and I feel sure that you will give this matter the publicity it deserves, in order that it may be brought to the notice of those authorities whose duty it is to safeguard the lives of the citizens. SAFETY FIRST. London, W.1.'