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IN YOUR OPINION

13th November 1964
Page 85
Page 85, 13th November 1964 — IN YOUR OPINION
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Attic Shortcomings

MTH Mr. Hope and Mr. Gosselin (The Commercial " Motor, November 6) have my sincere sympathies in their remarks, but having a little "behind the scenes" knowledge it is unfair to blame the Ministry of Transport for shortcomings of articulated vehicles.

I am a keen advocate of longer tractors for artics, but everyone seemed to want the longest semi-trailer with the shortest tractor when 35 ft. was the overall length limit. And when the amendment to the Construction and Use Regulations, including increased overall length, was put forward, I thought now we can have the longer tractors with kingpins well forward of the rear axle and thus make for much more stable and therefore safer artics. But not a bit of it. Everyone still seems to want the longest trailer. —and worse still, interchange their old tractors and semitrailers with new ones. Although there is some march of progress as regards braking, it could have led to a great deal more.

Who will take the lead—an operator or a tractor manufacturer? We trailer makers, unfortunately, can only follow

Andover, Hants. H. 0. DOEIGHTY,

Technical Director, Taskers of 'Andover (1932) Ltd.

Illuminated Signs

nNE aspect of road safety which seems largely to have been overlooked until it cropped up at the R.H.A. Conference concerns illuminated advertisements and signs. Intensity of light varies considerably, and while such signs are placed in position only after approval by local authorities,• there is no standard upon which approvals can be based. • Rarely is it possible for local authorities to assess the full effect of an illuminated sign until it is in use. Such signs, if well-placed, may possibly lend enchantment to the scene; if badly placed these illuminated advertisements could mean death or injury to pedestrians or drivers.

A powerfully illuminated advertisement or shop facia might easily dazzle or confuse a driver to such an extent that the recognition of normal traffic signals would be extremely difficult, probably impossible. Likewise, such conditions might make it nearly impossible to see pedestrians. At the present time authorities have little jurisdiction beyond ensuring that illuminated advertising does not appear immediately behind traffic signals. It is gratifying to learn that this problem has recently received considerable attention by the Association of Public Lighting Engineers' annual conference in Edinburgh. Mr. Granville Berry, engineer and surveyor, Coventry County Borough Council, at that conference pointed out that the approval of advertising signs "was one of the biggest problems to go before a planning committee ", and he suggested that as these signs could "seriously injure amenity and affect road safety ", the Ministry of Transport, in collaboration with the Ministry of. Housing and Local Government, should see if some guide could be given to local authorities in this matter. He said that Britain might well learn a lesson from the United States, where gigantic overhead signs could be seen more readily and at greater speed.

At the same conference, Mr. J. M. Waldram, a private consultant, said that while overhead signs had unquestionable advantages during night hours, their value during the day presented an entirely different problem, as glare from the sun could seriously affect motorists reading them. Mr. A. G. Brown, engineering assistant, Wimbledon Borough Council, referred to the Electric Sign Manufacturers' Association's recommendations for increased luminance, which is far in excess of that normally recommended for traffic signs. This speaker pointed out that this was an appalling situation and that the lighting ofroad signs should, at the very least, be equal in intensity to that of advertising signs.

The need for every measure to be adopted for road safety requires no emphasis. Here is one aspect of the matter which needs urgent attention. The Association of Public Lighting Engineers has highlighted the problem.' It has gone further---it has set up a committee to examine the whole matter. Let us hope that the Ministries concerned will also give heed--and quickly. The correct placing ot road signs and their proper lighting, unaffected by the distraction of more powerful, badly sited advertisements, shop facias, and so on, can no longer be ignored.

Thorpe Bay, Essex. DAZZLED.

Gardnerian Governing ?

HE recent correspondence in your journal concerning the relative merits of the Leyland and Gardner engines has been most interesting—but one point has, so far, not been mentioned.

The Patricroft product may be slow by many presentday standards, but surely it is significant that the " economy " version of the Power-Plus 0.600 engine is governed to a full-load speed that may be described as Gardnerian.

Rossendale, Lancs. R. STANDEN.

Stopping Semi-trailer 'Thefts

IN your report on the R.H.A. Conference (October 30) you mentioned that Mr. R. B. Brittain pointed out the need for a device to prevent the theft of parked semitrailers. The York Trailer Co. Ltd. has a very simple and effective solution to this problem in the York kingpin lock. This is a collar of cast aluminium which locks around the trailer kingpin thus preventing a tractor from coupling up to the semi-trailer.

The York device features a Chubb lock which is " tinpickable ", and tests with a sledge hammer on the York device prove it to be a powerful—if not ultimate— deterrent to trailer snatching.

J. C. HARRISON,

Corby, NOrthants. York Trailer Co. Ltd.


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