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lotorway Limits "No", Recorders "Yes"
Page 75
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than this was involved the could be well visualized. In mit of an emergency stop there anger of the load moving, the ; skidding and it getting out of 1.
orways were 35 ft. wide on each ;eway, with a centre reservaf 6 ft., giving an overall distance ft. Travelling at 60 m.p.h, a crossing the motorway diagon. 4.5° would cover the distance .h carriageways in less than 2 is. If the Ministry's braking were accepted, a vehicle doing I.h. required a distance of 240 ft. ieh to stop—always provided le vehicle was in good condition e weather was dry and good. orways were not designed as racks. He wondered if the cost [ntenance due to high speed put y commercial vehicles was d. His own maintenance costs sen from 16 per cent to 19 per vcause of motorway running. agreed that goods had to be ed as quickly as possible. tunately the customer would not or the additional maintenance ed.
Motorways Need Overdrive
fleling, Mr. A. C. W. Neely (West ads) said that his company ed overdrive on all vehicles to d on motorways, Unfortunately Jrivers occasionally used this as ra high gear. He did not mind !.1a speed restriction was ed by legislation or was built he design of a vehicle in the )f a governor.
iking strongly against the resoMr. F. Rudman (North Western rn)) said that it would be ous in a progressive industry gest cancelling what would be nost important contribution r d s increased productivity, illy since we now have vehicles arger engines, stronger chassis .akes.
opposing, Mr. J. E. Kirby Vlidlands) said there was already uch legislation in the industry. operator wanted to restrict his :'s speed, it was up to him to r that fact to the manufacturer. ing the opposite view was Mr. ooper (West Midlands) who d that safety must come first, Ir. W. F. Miners (Devon and
Cornwall) and Mr. N. T. O'Reilly (Northern) posed the question " how many people really need a speed in excess of 50 m.p.h."? When the motorways were finished it would be possible for a vehicle to reach Glasgow from London comfortably in 10 hours with a 50 m.p.h. restriction. He suggested that the Association should concern itself more with what happened when vehicles arrived in the town.
Mr. J. P. Wells (Metropolitan and South Eastern) suggested that there was no _danger in speed. What was dangerous was the circumstances in which speed was undertaken.
Another opposer was Mr. J. B. Mitchell (Scottish) who, white agreeing with the resolution in theory, was against unnecessary legislation—a view which was shared by Mr. E. W. Voller (Metropolitan and South Eastern).
Continental Flavour Bringing a continental flavour to the proceedings, Mr. J. A. Manly (Metropolitan and South Eastern) said that 200 of his group's vehicles operated on the Continent, where higher motorway speeds were possible. It was significant, he said, that• the insurance coverage for the vehicles while on the Continent was lower than when they operated in this country. It was definitely not the case that, because vehicles went faster, more accidents occurred.
On a show of hands the resolution was lost.
" Let the trades unions get this message—just as I want to see the black sheep eliminated from their membership (the men who are prepared to spend far too long in the transport cafés and then drive furiously to make up time) so I want to see the black sheep eliminated from our side the employer who is prepared to turn a blind eye or encourage or order driving in excess of hours). In addition I hope that the trades unions will recognize the recorder as a means of assisting in the measurement of productivity and assisting both employer and worker to arrive at equitable incentive rewards which will not have the unfortunate resort that SO many schemes have at present—law breaking."
With these comments Mr. N. R. Wynn (South Wales) proposed "That this Conference requests the Association to urge her Majesty's Government, in the interests of productivity and road safety, to make the fitting of speed and time recorders in commercial road vehicles compulsory ".
It was carried by a substantial majority despite comments by Mr. J. W. Finnis (Metropolitan and South Eastern) and Mr. R. N. Ingram (West Midlands) that it would be better if it could be done by persuasion rather than legislation.
Mr. Wynn indicated the advantages of modern instruments over earlier models, saying that they show (in the form of graphs) speeds achieved. records, period of time when stationary and when mobile, and give the distance travelled in a given period —which may be a day, three days or eight days.
Agreeing with Mr. Rudman that recorders can benefit the short-distance as well as the long-distance operator, he said that they will show a break of 10 seconds. Recorders can be used to convince consignors and consignees of the time taken in loading and discharging: Mr. Wynn would make recorders compulsory because he does not believe that their general adoption can be achieved by any other means.
Seconding the proposition Mr. C. C. Nelson (South Wales) said on the question of road safety that speed limits must be observed and control of speed was wanted, even on the motorways. It was in the best interests of the public at large that the statutory limits of the permitted hours of work should be enforced.
Education
" I believe there is only one course open to us. We must greatly improve the quality of the courses and back them with men and money. We must provide finance and support for a university to enable it to offer a degree course. Strathclyde University, which is oriented towards industry and the American attitude to business, is willing to provide such a course in its Department of Transportation Studies. A covenent of £2,000 a year for seven years would meet the bill (less than 2s 6d per member of the RHA), and it may be possible to set this off against the inevitable levy which will be demanded from us under the Industrial Training Act."
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