DISARMING
Page 66
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pLACARDS at one time decorated abnormal indivisible loads in transit and told the public in disarming prose what was being carried for whom and where. It seemed in those days a good exercise in public relations. Once people realized the value to the community, the export trade—and the manufacturer—of the bulky piece of equipment trundling ahead of them, they would not mind missing their appointment or their lunch.
The results have not come up to expectations. What has remained in the minds of the public, or what the polite notices have failed to erase, is that only the manufacturer reaps any advantage from the police escort and the blockage of traffic, and that he should be discouraged. The reaction was not expected but it has had its effect. Although the number of abnormal indivisible loads has increased, that of public announcements excusing their presence on the road has somehow become fewer. Qui s'excuse s'accuse, and perhaps the notices did no more than give other road users a convenient address for their abusive letters.
The manufacturer of heavy machinery, and the carrier, now prefer to remain anonymous. The lesson they have learned the hard way should not prevent them from returning a suave reply to protests that reach them from angry correspondents, or from answering criticisms in the Press or over the air. The popular agitation, given a new boost by the trouble the railways have stirred up, is in fact misconceived. The Government will not give way to it. They are in the fortunate position of knowing the whole story. There is still a risk that some new restriction, irritating rather than disastrous, will be imposed to meet public clamour, so that it is as well that the attacks on the outsize toad are not left without an answer.
What the transport operators and the manufacturers ought to do on the roads themselves is equally clear. They should proceed firmly, and as quietly and unobtrOsively as is possible with a load weighing a couple of hundred tons. They must accept the fact that if they are detected they will be criticized. When a police escort is provided, the public ought not to think that the heavy haulier is breaking the law, but whether they are being illogical or not most of them are convinced he has no right to be taking up so much room, as the Dormouse said to Alice. They are incensed rather than appeased when the manufacturer rubs in the fact that his offence is deliberate.
More Press comment In keeping with the increase in public interest there has recently been more Press comment than usual about the abnormal indivisible load, which people accuse of "cluttering up" roads they want for their own purposes. The phrase is revealing. The objectors go on to say that the traffic ought to go by rail or by sea, and they are impervious to the practical arguments against their suggestion. All they are concerned to achieve is the removal of an obstruction from what they regard as their highway.
In a less extreme form people have the same attitude towards other kinds of road operator, even when thern problem concerned is not one that can be solved by a transfer of traffic. Annoyance is felt at the passage of vehicles carrying fertilizer, or showering mud, or giving off fumes, and the indignation is just as great whether or not • the nuisance is because of faulty maintenance. One can understand the reason even if one cannot accept the reasoning. The streets and roads are still
regarded as precincts, as extensions of the buildings. The idea dies hard of the Queen's Highway, with free access for all and hindrance to none. Although people have become resigned to an alien stream of traffic, there are limits at which they will suddenly launch violent protests and accept no soothing explanations in exchange. They would think the same about trains if the railways, instead of having their permanent way to themselves, ran through shopping centres and bisected village greens.
However unfair and unreasonable may be the public attitude of mind, it must be given careful consideration, particularly by the haulier. Because in the ordinary course of events the public that he aims to please consists only of his customers, it is hard for him to look outside this circle. He has to realize that he is part of a road haulage industry, which might be radically affected by the views of the public as a whole. All classes of road user act as if the road belonged solely to them, and this can create difficulties on a road system designed to take only a fraction of the traffic it now has to bear. The important thing for the haulier is not to appear to be taking more than his fair share of what has become a scarce commodity, and will remain scarce for many years until the roads are brought up to date.
Means of Segregation From the point of view of public relations, if for no other reason, the motorway should be a boon to hauliers. It is not merely a device for speeding up journeys. It is• also a means of segregating mechanical transport, and as such is the best aid that the commercial-vehicle operator can have for avoiding enmity. He has been unaccountably slow to see this It was with incredulity I read that some hauliers were forbidding their drivers to use the Ml. The, sentiment Was sound. There had been a number of accidents while the road was a novelty. But a warning rather than a prohibition was the correct remedy.
When drivers have become completely accustomed to the first motorway and the pressure of long-distance traffic is largely removed from the AS, it would be interesting to find whether people living near the latter route had changed their attitude towards road goods transport. The trade associations might have done more actively to encourage their members to use the Ml, and perhaps the failure will be made good when motorways in other parts of the country are opened.
There will still.be a good deal of traffic that has to use the old roads and the built-up areas. The relations with the public will continue to be strained from time to time, because it is so manifestly undesirable that lorries, vans, cars, cycles, horses, dogs, cats, men, women and children should all be expected to use the same limited amount of space. They get in each other's way, they are involved in an appalling number of accidents, and they seek among themselves for a scapegoat.
The commercial-vehicle operator is an easy choice. There is not much he can do about it, but he can try to mitigate some of the more unpleasant consequences. The appearance of his vehicles is important. A coat of paint inspires confidence, whether or not it is justified, in the standard of maintenance and in the ability of the driver. The vehicles should be properly parked overnight, if possible not in a street where they will wake the whole neighbourhood when they roar off early in the morning.