Committee on London Traffic Accidents.
Page 16
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Below will be found the text. of the evidence of the Editor of this journal, which evidence was given before the Select Committee on Thursday of last week. The various divisions of the evidence were supported by figures, and particular reference was made to the preponderance of quiet motorbuses iii present-day service. Over and above the 2000 B-type vehicles, constructed at the L.G.O.C. works, which were in service at the 31st March last, out of a total of 2995 vehicles on the streets, it has to be recalled that the large majority of the balance also consists of up-to-date and silent machines. It goes without saying that steam vehicles have to be classed in this category. The Chairman asked for our exclusive records ot motorbuses in London service, dating back to 1905, and a chart, of these, specially drawn, has now been lodged for the iniormation of the Committee.
The Editor's Proof.
" (1) That he appears on behalf of the Royal Automobile Club and the Roads Improvement Association (Incorporated), and that he is in general agreement with the evidence that was submitted to the Committee by Captain H. H. P. Deasy On the 8th and 10th April: (a) That he has owned and driven many types of neeercycles and motorcars, from the year 1898 forward. aggregating not Jess than 50,009 miles of driving himself, and another 10,000 mites when driven by other people;
(b) That about one-third of the above-stated mileage has been in the Metropolitan Police area ;
(e) That he is a member of the Committee of the Reyal Automobile Club ; Hon. Treasurer of the Roads Improvement Association ; and Hon. Treaeurer of the Commercial Motors Users Association.
" (2) That he is of opinion that the increase of motorbus accidents in London is due to the following causes :— (a) The virtual silence of the vehicles (which give rio characteristic audible warning of their approach), due to the stringency of the Scotland yard regulations, and in consequence of which the motorbuses are much quieter in renning than tramcars, in part due to the absence of flange noise;
(I) The comparative newness of motorbus traffic and its rapid augmentation since the month of January, 1912; • le) The general failure of highway authorities to cleanse street surfaces with proper regard to altered traffic conditions;
(d) The retention of too sleep an angle of cress-fall in the construction of asphalt and ether carriage-way surfaces, and especially so in the sections adjoining the side channels and kerbs;
(e) The carelessness and lack of alertness of mind on the part of some pedestrians; (f) The waste of the highway by drivers who disregard the element of time or the convenience and the equitable right of other users of the highway to pass along it; (g) The congestion and obstruction due to tramcers " Pi That he makes the following observations and seegests the following remedial measures, in relation to the above seven stated causes :—
(a) That each motorbus should be additionally fitted with foot gong, to be applied by one of the heels of the driver, or other standardized device to give audible warning of the vehicle's approech, the, same to be of a type peculiar to motorbuses; (b) Accident statistics for passenger transport undertakings by mechanical vehicles in all big cities bear out this contention, arid the circumstances which contribute to that experience are intensified by London corditions—an improvement should begin to assort itself soon [see also (e) infra] ;
(e) Steps should be taken to remove films of mod from the highway soon after they appear, by means of street-orderly boys with suitable implements;
(d) Excessive angles of side-fall should be forbidden, and, in the case of asphalt, no side-fall steeper than 1 in
30 should be allowed close to the kerb, whereas there are at the present time numerous places where that angle is steeper than 1 in 20;
(0 Rules should be circulated widely by way of education and warning, and, in addition, pedestrians should keep to the left instead of the right on the pavement, in order to force the opportunity upon them to protect themselves;
The same obligation which is now laid upon motorcar drivers by Section 1 of the 1903 Motor Car Act—viz., to have regard 'to the amount of traffic which actually is at the time, or which might reasonably be expected to be, on the highway,' should he imposed by statute urien all drivers and all pedestrians, in order that the existing highways may be used to their full capacity, instead of their being largely wasted as is new the case;
(!,) (1) That it, should be the duty of all tramway authorities, in the cases of recites which have inner dead-end termini and which are not circular or through routes, apart from the seduction of the frequency of service during certain hours ef the day, to turn a proportion of the remaining vehicles in eervice at points outside a defined inner zone ; (2) that in order to avoid the danger and uneert.ainty which is unavoidable now at. numerous tramcar stopping-places, such stoppingplaces should be rneved forward by, say, a distance of 60 yards in all eases where they are less than, say, 60 yards from intersecting traffic highways."
(f) L.G.O.C. Evidence.
We are indebted to the managing director of the Lendon General Omnibus Co., Ltd., Mr. Albert H. Stanley, for a complete proof of the detailed evidence and data which he prepared for submission to the Select Committee. Mr. Stanley's evidence was opened on Tuesday morning last, the 29th ult,, and we had hoped to receive the proof on Monday. As we have had occasion to point out recently, successive increases in the circulation of THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR have necessitated our going to press some 12 hours earlier than formerly ; it is, therefore, quite out of the question for us, unless we defer going to press to a point that will make us late in publication, to deal adequately with lengthy particulars which reach us on a Tuesday morning_ In fairness to Mr. Stanley and the interests which he represents, we feel that we are obliged, though reluctantly, to hold our full comment and extracts until next week. The extensive " book " of evidence demands careful perusal and treatment.
One of the most-interesting portions is the full schedule of the times allowed for the whole of the company's services. The mileage for each service is given. together with the number of minutes that are allowed at different periods of the day : for the hours—morning, noon or evening—when traffic is likely to be more ttAlgestecl on a. particular service, so many more minutes are allowed. This section of the evidence should go very far to controvert the view that certain statements which were put before the Committee by men who were at one time drivers represented the average of conditions.
Another point, and we again express our regret that we cannot refer to others, is the thoroughness and completeness of the facts and records to show that it is insufficient to take note only of the increasing totals of accidents, a tendency in which direction has been very markedly evident at the Committee. Such totals convey no true view of the situation, unless they are considered along with the actual number of bus-miles for each period. Even the total number of buses in service is no real guide, because the vehicles now in service run so many more miles tier week on the average than did the less-reliable vehicles, which were notoriously subject to breakdown, some years ago.