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Keep Down Motorway Signs

10th January 1958
Page 63
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Page 63, 10th January 1958 — Keep Down Motorway Signs
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

THE news that a committee has been set up by the Minister 1 of Transport, under the chairmanship of Sir Colin Anderson, to consider what traffic signs should be provided

on the new motor roads, gives further indication that contemplated construction is now being tackled with some energy.

The views of commercial-vehicle trunk drivers and longdistance bus and coach drivers on this subject would be well worth scrutiny. Some of them clock up, annually, huge mileages during all seasons and weather conditions, in night as well as day driiiing, and keep going when many others have stopped.

It is visualized that the motorways will be virtually enclosed, with no entry or exit other than at service points spaced at intervals along the route. There is, therefore, no call for any road signs on the open stretches to distract a driver's attention, with one possible exception, to which I refer later. All information can be sign-posted within the perimeter of track Covered by the service points, where some speed control may be considered as necessary,

If signs are used on the open stretches the question of readability arises in daylight and darkness, as well as during

conditions of poor and bad visibility. If vehicle road speed is half as fast again, the time that the sign comes into.ancl remains in vision is correspondingly reduced. Accordingly, a driver may either decelerate to read the wording, or, maintaining his speed, stare hard at. the sign, neglecting the road ahead; in both cases an accident potential would be created. If it takes 5 sec. to assimilate the announcements on a sign at 60 m.p.h. a distance of about 146 yd. is covered. If speed is slackened to 40 m.p.h. a distance of 98 yd.

is covered, a difference of 48 yd. per hour in 5 sec. The fewer situations created to disturb the now rate the better. It may be said that 5 sec. is too long to read a sign under any conditions, but the motorways will cater for drivers of all grades of experience and varying degrees of eyesight.

As the roads will undoubtedly be of the twin pattern visibility could be improved by duplicating the signs on the off-side verge. I would suggest, however, that the best site would be overhead, suspension being from the crossbar of " goalposts." This would have the merit that the eyes would not be distracted from the road ahead. Even there, difficulty might arise in determining the height of the suspension. In addition to the standard main road clear ance of 14 ft. for overhead bridges, an extra and unknown height might be required for indivisible loads. If sited too high, full viewing might be too short and at too great a distance, through many windscreens, to be practicable.

The only signs I suggest for the track proper would be gradient signs along its entire length, borrowing railway technique and using the T-sign, in which the right-hand arm above or below the horizontal denotes a rise or fall. together with the lettering:-1 in 20! 2 miles. Whilst the regulars" would get to know the road like the back of their hands, it is the unversed stranger who will be all at sea, which in terms of higher speeds means added risk.

Again it is assumed that service points, will contain the en route entrances and exits to and from the tracks, together with filling stations and other necessary adjuncts on side roads. I submit that the track through this ground should be controlled by lights. Approaching the area there could be a neutral zone of say 300 yd., denoted at the start by a single amber light, followed by a double amber denoting the start of, say, a 20-m.p.h. limit. On leaving the area a single green would give entry to the neutral zone and a double green the go ahead. On the one side traffic would have time to decelerate, on the other, time to sort itself out into the respective traffic lanes. Similar control would seem necessary at the extreme ends, where motorways merge into the existing road system. All directional and other information could be signposted within the controlled limits, where a driver passing through and not stopping could get his bearings.

No lights or signs would, however, overcome the problem of fog, or even the immobilized, unlighted vehicle standing on the highway during darkness_ Yet a search for a solution should go on. I visualize something in the nature of a fog-horn at sea, taken from the engine or battery, and emitting a distinctive note, after the manner of the wartime air-raid alert. It has the limitation that the engine or battery, or both could be the cause of vehicle immobilization.

An alternative would be.to stock the roadside with small portable units which could be started to give audible warning to on-coming traffic. Fog can be patchy and comparatively light yet without warning become suddenly dense. A warning note by sound could prevent a chainreaction pile-up.

Glasgow. ARTHUR R. WILSON, M.I.R.T.E.

Road Haulage in U.S.A. and Canada

IT was with considerable interest that I read Mr. J. F. I Moon's recent articles on Canadian and American transport in your journal. Having "rolled one of them rigs" myself for some years on the other side of the Atlantic I would like to make One or two observations.

Although Ford and General Motors have a very large slice of the sales in the commercial vehicle market and can afford to develop and introduce new and unconventional ideas (for example the tilting cab described in your issue dated August 2), the market for really long-distance trucks, that is on coast-to-coast work, is dominated largely by a few smaller firms, Kenworth, Hayes, Autocar and White Freightliner, who manufacture a limited number of forward-control vehicles especially designed to cope with the arduous conditions in the Middle Western States and on the Trans-Canada Highway.

Almost universally these oil-engined tractors have high ground clearance, 11.00 by 22 tyres, double-drive, sanders (for spreading sand in front of the driving wheels), a sleeper cab with an interior-sprung mattress, air brakes and Fuller Roadranger Transmission giving 10 forward speeds.

It will be appreciated that to enter the long-distance field requires considerably more capital than would be needed in Britain or any European country. One of these tractors, fully equipped and ready for the road, costs a little over $27,000 (about £9,850) and a refrigerated trailer, usually designed to the exact specification of the clearing houses, costs another $10,000. On top of that are the costs of the annual Provincial, State and P.V.C. (P.V.C. is equivalent to a British A licence) licences.

As an example, to buy sufficient licence plates to run legally from Toronto, Ontario to Winnipeg, Manitoba via the United States costs $1,398.50 for 12 months, and with freight rates as low as $1.98 per 100 lb. for this 1,200-mile trip, it can be seen that life is no bed of roses for the haulier. On these coast-to-coast runs two drivers are generally employed but on runs of 1,300 miles and less one driver is the rule. Drivers are paid 6 cents a mile in Canada, 71 cents in the Eastern U.S. and 9-1 cents west of the Mississippi. Generally speaking, there is a 10-hour driving limit in the States, but in Canada there is no legal limit to the hours that a driver may work and many, with the help of strong coffee and benzedrine, average 600 miles per day!

Caldicot, Nr. Chepstow. J. MARSTON.

Great Hold-up Could Have Been Avoided

youR article. of December 27 regarding the 1,000 cornmercial vehicles which were held up on Beattock Summit was of great interest to me.

I had set off at 7 a.m. on December 10 and arrived at Abington at 9 a.m., where the jam of vehicles commenced. The road was solid with traffic from there to Beattock. By jumping the queue 1 got as far as the railway bridge between Crawford and Beattock, and there I was warned by the police that if I repeated this procedure I would be in serious trouble with them.

Later the inspector of police arrived, apologised for the holdup and stated that it was caused by drivers leaving their vehicles in Crawford and Beattock.

He added that so many vehicles were left at these two points on the previous night that the road had become completely blocked. There was no suggestion from the police or from any of the motoring organizations that the alternative route should be used.

One driver complained to me that he had stood by at Crawford all night and had had nothing to eat. Fortunately, I was able to give him some coffee from my vacuum flask and a sandwich. This driver advised me that Dalveen Pass, from Crawford to Dumfries, was open. I about-turned and made for Dalveen Pass, which I found to be completely cleared of snow, and arrived in Dumfries at noon. The road from there to London was completely clear of snow and ice.

If the police and the motoring organizations had diverted the traffic at Crawford this dreadful holdup of lorries would not have taken place. Surely the police could have advised the respective drivers at Crawford to take the alternative route?

Glasgow, C.3. G. McINTost-t, Director, John McIntosh and Son, Ltd.

'Knowledge of Light "Language" Required

PROCEEDING northwards from Chelmsford recently in broad daylight I was confronted by the driver of a light Commer van overtaking a vehicle, the driver of which was already at that time engaged in passing a third vehicle moving in the same southerly direction as were the other two.

As if to convey to me, in some way, a measure of his intentions, I noticed that the driver of the light van switched his sidelights on and off two or three times. As I did not understand this sign language, perhaps a driver of a " heavy " among your readers might be good enough to let me know the exact meaning of such light signals. Could it have been to tell me, politely, to get off the road?

Fortunately, possible trouble from this piece of " hogging " was avoided as the result of two of us giving way.

Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex. • G. W. KNIGHT.


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