Ministry Plans for New Safety Staff
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Divisional Officials to Study Causes and Prevention of• Accidents and Make 'Recommendations THE appointment of special officers whose task will be the intensive study of accidents and their prevention was announced by the Minister of Transport, Mr. John Boyd-Carpenter, in a special message to the National Safety Congress at Morecambe, last week. The officials in question will work in the offices of the divisional road engineers.
Mr. Boyd-Carpenter said that their primary task would be to make themselves thoroughly familiar with the accident pattern of their regions and to put forward proposals for the elimination of black spots, to improve sign' posting, to install guard rails or traffic lights, and other ways in which casualties can be reduced.
Praise for Lorry Drivers
OPENING the congress, the Earl of Derby. Lord-Lieutenant of Lancashire, said the worst feature of the roads today was the complete lack of courtesy. But he excluded commercial drivers from this criticism and said he was gratified by the thoughtfulness which was shown by 95 per cent. of them.
The men who suffered most from bad roads in this country were the lorry drivers. There was no possible doubt that the roads were totally inadequate for the amount of transport on them and he hoped that in many cases toll roads might be instituted if they were going to be of real assistance.
The Bishop of Blackburn, the Right Rev. W. H. Baddeley, also praised trunk drivers. Ile thought a new spirit among road users was needed, a readiness to give rather than take, and an allowance for the other man's possible error of judgment.
No Proof of Fitness
A T a road safety forum, those Pl. present rejected a proposal, introduced by alr. F. Fuller (Urrnston Road Safety Committee), that new applicants for driving licences should be required to produce proof of their physical fitness to take charge of a motor vehicle.
Mr. E. Y. Bannard, principal of the 'road safety division of the Ministry of Transport, said that the possibility of requiring proof had been internationally considered and doctors had rejected it. The difficulty lay in the marginal cases and psychological
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factors also entered into the matter. Large-scale medical examinatiOns would place a heavy burden on an already hard-pressed profession.
The forum rejected a proposal for raising a discussion on the problem of educating old people in the need for care on the roads, but, in the course of the debate, delegates urged the desirability, of hammering home to drivers and riders the importance of respect for the elderly who could not always help themselves.
A call for an examination and re-codifying of motor vehicle light signals, including direction indicators, braking signals and general warning lights, was made by Cilr. E. B. Brown (Wareham and District Road Safety Gommittee).
Cllr. Brown said that the SouthWestern England Accident Prevention Federation contended that the flashing indicator did nothing to promote road safety and, in fact, caused that " dithering " of drivers on the road which had already been condemned at the congress.
Mr. G. Grime, senior principal scientific officer of the Road Research Laboratory, said that research was being done on the semaphore type of signal as compared with the flashing indicator. The indicator placed where the old semaphore was normally situated had great advantages over the grouped system, as with the latter there was inevitably a time-lag before the following driver realized the precise intention behind the signal. Those present agreed that the whole system of tight signals ought to he examined and their particular. significance given widespread publicity.
Black Exhausts Condemned
THE menace of oil-engine exhausts which emitted heavy smoke and, he contended, often caused following motorists to take undue risks in overtaking, was the subject of complaint by Mr. Victor A. Walbe, chief ground safely officer of the United States Air Force (7th Division), at the road safety parliament.
In the U.S.A., exhaust pipes of oilengined vehicles were commonly carried upwards behind the cab and discharged fumes above the vehicle, he said 'In this way temptation for following drivers to overtake at all costs was avoided. Mr. G. V. Hole, assistant secretary of the road safety division of the Ministry of Transport, thought the question was one that should be put before the manufacturers.
Mr. J. S. McNeil, divisional road • engineer, North Western Division, responding to further questions, said the Ministry was all in favour of having lay-bys for buses so that public service vehicles could stand clear of the main traffic stream. However, it was severely restricted in the money it could spend and it might be felt that £1,000, for instance, could be used in a better way than in providing for the needs of, say,, two buses every half-hour.
Mr. Molson Defends Tax Policy.
N response to a question regarding
the use of revenue from motor taxation for purposes other than road improvements, Mr. Hugh Molson, Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport, contended that it was accepted as undesirable that taxes should be ear-marked for any one specific purpose. By tradition revenue Went into the common pool.
If more money were spent on roads than the Government intended to spend this year, .further taxation would have to be raised or money diverted from other requirements. It was not right to complain, because the Government tried to act as a wise custodian of the public purse. There had been no cut in the announced road programme,' 'but it was not an opportune moment for expenditure on roads to be increased.
Dealing with proposals for compulsory annual vehicle inspections, Mr. Molson said tests could not in the foreseeable future apply to all vehicles, because it would be far too big an undertaking. The Ministry had in mind substituting for the original proposals some system of spot checking in the hope that the effect of this Sword of Damocles hanging over all vehicles might result in a general improvement.
Mr, • R. Lloyd Thomas, principal, police division, Home Office, said statistics did not appear to show that defective vehicles . were a cause of accidents, but it was suspected that they were a contributory cause in many cases. Quoting statistics regarding vehicles tested at Slough, Mr. Grime observed that it seemed that some kind of inspection was required.
Maj.-Gen. B. K. Young, directorgeneral of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. described the public as "unwilling, buyers" of the road safety which it was the job of the Society to sell. They thought it desirable to indulge in some of the shock type of propaganda. Subjects were chosen so that although they might border on the horrific, they did not offend.
The general public showed a surprisingly morbid approach to road safety propaganda. This was well demonstrated by the "Black Widow" poster which, after many years, was well remembered.