BAN THE LORRY
Page 45
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AMONG recent assessments, Mr. Colin Buchanan's paper on Building and Planning in the Motbr Age," and Raymond Baxter's television programme "Living vith the Motor Car," both seem to put the private ear it the centre of the transport problem. There are ample itatistics to bear this out, including the calculation by the toad Research Board that in the past five years the use )f the roads by cars has increased by nearly two-thirds. ei such circumstances, more and better roads are obviously frgently needed, but their construction could hardly, keep )are with a demand that continues to develop at the present -ate.
The corresponding increase in the use of the roads by ;oods vehicles, including the lighter type of van, is not nuch above 20 per cent. In spite of this comparatively nodest rate of expansion, the heavier vehicles have in the )ast year or-so become the object of a sustained campaign A vilification, much of which has been conducted from he standpoint of the private motorist. Whatever trouble le may cause to the planning. experts, he is persuaded by t steady stream of newspaper articles and letters to the ?-ress that everything would be plain driving if only there mere no lorries.
MANY road operators have been surprised at the viru.ence of the attack. In the past, they have made common :.ause• with the motorist in pressing for better, roads and .ower. taxation. Even in those days, however, there was one -ift in the lute, caused by the outsize load and the conges:ion that it almost inevitably Causes whenever it has to pass hrough a busy thoroughfare. At no time has the motorist seen entirely happy about the special type vehicle, and le has taken little notice of the occasional explanation that, or example, no other form of transport is possible for he load, and that its movement takes place at times and wer routes that are thought likely to cause the least inconrenience to road users.
Perhaps the explanation has not been given sufficiently arongly or sufficiently often. Manufacturers of abnormal oads., and the people who carry them, know that there is to alternative and that they have the authorities on their ;ide. This may seem the most important consideration,
n comparison with which the occasional, inevitable delay s of no great consequence. The unpopularity to which it nay give rise is treated as a normal hazard of the job; t is best to let the people concerned get their grievances off heir chests, in the Presstr elsewhere, after which they will )erhaps quieten down and forget about it.
[HIS is not how things have worked Out in practice. The Titieism of the abnormal load has been encouraged rather han anything else by the reluctance of the manufacturers o explain why they use road transport. The attack has fathered strength, and found what seem powerful argunents to the general public. Heavy traffic is said to destroy Thad surfaces, to an extent that is not met by the taxation hat the operators pay. The congestion caused by the pasage of an abnormal load is itself regarded as the cause of tecidents. The most ingenious contention is that, if so far is possible the traffic were transferred to the railways, their inancial difficulties would be eased at the same time as he traffic problem.
Often supported by M.P.s, the propaganda appears to have had some effect. The Government cannot ignore what seems to be a substantial body of public opinion. The new regulations introduced by the Minister of Transport may reflect the complaints that have been made. An announcement from the Ministry speaks of "the increasing dislocation of ordinary traffic caused by slow-moving vehicles carrying large and awkward loads." As a result, additional controls are being imposed. They will require the loads to be sent by other means of transport, or to be "broken into snialler pieces whenever possible."
SO far as one can see, the new controls do little more than underline existing practice, although they are officially presented as imposing substantial extra handicaps on the operator of special type vehicles. Whether this is So or not, the Government acknowledge the need to reassure the the public that something is being done about a favourite
grouse of the motorist. Those people who have been criticizing the heavy vehicle have gained a moral, if not a physical, victory.
The battle will not end there. The front has now been extended to cover all heavy goods vehicles. Exactly what this term means to the m.an=in-the-car is not always clear. At times, his target seems to be only the very heavy vehicles, at other times he may attack practically everything except the light delivery van.'in general, it may be conl venient to take as the dividing line an unladen weight. of 3 tons. No operator, nationalized or independent, with
vehicles above that weight, can consider himself safe. • The tightening up of the controls over abnormal loads may have 'been taken as the signal for a new offensive, and new weapons, or developments of the old, have been brought up to mount it. The effect cannot but be disturbing to operators and to their drivers. The attack has been launched from the point of view of the motorist, and the people responsible seem confident that they will have prac.. tically the whole of the motoring public behind them.
ONE unusual and sinister feature of the campaign is that the lorry driver, who at one time was generally acknowledged as the epitome of courtesy and skiff—as the true " knight of the road "—is now brought under attack as well'as his employer. He is represented as caring nothing for the delay and frustration that he causes. In addition, these undesirable by-products of his day's work are said to be responsible for a large proportion of road accidents— one commentator has put it as high as 30 per cent. The argument is that motorists held up behind a lorry becomn exasperated, and in that frame of mind take risks they would not think of taking in their saner moments. The lorry driver is not only dangerous, but causes others to put themselves in danger.
If counter action is not taken, the campaign is likely to increase. Immediate replies to attacks in the Press are, of course, desirable, and, so far as one can tell are usually given. They may be no more than a holding action. Before deciding what should be done further, it may be as well to 'analyse the situation, and particularly the attitude of the motorist. I hope to pursue this subject next week.