The Elimination of Side-slip : Local Authorities and "Misfeasance."
Page 1
Page 2
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
The finding of Judge Selfe, at the Brampton County Court, on Thursday of last week, in a case brought by a motorcar owner against the London Road Car Company, Limited, has attracted much comment in the general Press. The jury found a verdict for the plaintiff, on the ground that the company's omnibus " was not under control," whilst, in presenting the jury's finding, the foreman added that the driver " was not negligent." This decision is one of great importance, because it raises far-reaching issues in relation to liability for accidental damage on the highway in the absence of negligence. His Honour, in summing up, remarked that he held the case to be covered by one in which the proprietors of a locomotive were sued for setting a haystack alight by the emission of sparks. In this case, although it was admitted that no negligence was proved, and that the engine was properly constructed, the plaintiffs succeeded on the ground of the admission that no care could have evented the sparks flying. A parallel admission was made in the case under review, and, hence, the judgment against the omnibus company, but we cannot regard the decision cited [Powell v. Fall (188o), 5 Q.B.D., 5971 as one that will be held to govern all eases of side-slip, As in any case of alleged nuisance, the question of control, or lack of control, is one for the jury.
We do not claim that omnibus proprietors should enjoy any special dispensation, in respect of the clear duties which attach to any user of the highway towards other users of the same highway, but we are bound to recognise the fact that the real causes of side-slip are : (1) the dirty condition of our street surfaces owing to the existence of horse traffic; and (2) the frequently excessive camber of the roads. These two factors in the problem will exercise a very considerable influence upon running conditions, for a long time to come, though it is true that the next six years will greatly reduce the risk of accident, by reason of improved and more suit able road surfaces, and of the increasing ratio of motor traffic to horse-drawn traffic, but it is equally true that not
even the most extreme advocate of the motorbus can main tain that liability should not attach to its owners if a vehicle is put on the road without every admissible precautionary
attachment. The continued use of the endless tire unquestionably contributes to the occurrence of sideslip, and it is a matter of no little astonishment to us to find how slowly the block or pad tire is coining into vogue in London, especially in view of its success on the Continent We cannot assert our belief that this class of tire provides the solution of the side-slip difficulty, although it furnishes a mitigating element, as that will continue with us until one of the following alternatives is perfected : (a) the general adoption of suitable road construction, and the maintenance of surfaces in a cleanly state; (b) a front-wheel or four-wheel drive, with the centre of gravity of the vehicle kept well forward as well as low down ; or (c) the application of a really practical " ped-rail " design in road locomotion.
Extra metal bands or wheels, or other surface-cutting appendages, are not satisfactory. As in the case of the motorcar, studded treads may be used under the exemption clause which comes at the end of Article VI in the Heavy Motorcar Order, 1904, but the practical difficulties with Ibis class of tread are very great where heavy driving strains and imposed loads exist, such as are inseparable from omnibus traffic.
The first of the above alternatives is one of which the accomplishment is outside the scope of the motor engineer, but it is of great importance that it should be pressed upon the notice of local councils. As rubber-tired omnibuses do considerably less damage to the paving than any iron-tired vehicles, and as they do not, like the electric tramcars, force other traffic to concentrate upon narrow strips of the highway, their multiplication should be encouraged by highway committees whose members are free to act impartially There is, so far as we can see, one immediate line of action open to omnibus proprietors, and that is for them to point out to the borough authorities that the adoption of more up-to-date and severe methods of street cleansing, so that the detritus, horse droppings, and other mod-forming elements may be more effectively removed, having regard to the growth of motor traffic, than has been the practice in the past, might advisedly be adopted without further delay. It is clearly incumbent upon those who are responsible for the cleansing of our London thoroughfares to improve their methods in step with changing demands and requirements. Any failure on their part will provide, in our judgment, grounds for action against them on the plea of misfeasance, although we believe that the responsible officers of the various borough councils will recognise the necessity for a closer degree of watchfulness in this very important branch of their multifarious duties. It is a weak course for councillors to throw up their hands with the plea that they are helpless; the duty is placed upon them to cleanse the streets to suit the demands of the day. Motorbus traffic has given them nearly two years' warning of its needs, yet little if anything has been done to aid the vehicles and the millions of ratepayers who use them. It is an easy matter to say the vehicles are in a transitional stage, and that im
provements will come, Borough engineers and surveyors should realise that they, too, are not to sit idly by while the motorbus has" convulsions "on their neglected asphalt.
Were the problem of cleaner surfaces tor London limited in its interest to motorbus owners, there might be some excuse for the cry of rating. But any improvement that aids the motorbus will be of benefit to the motorvan, the tractor, and the goads lorry, as much as to the horse itself. There is, we must again point out, no selfish or exclusive gain at the expense of the community, such as exists in the case of a tramline monopoly where the tramcars benefit in reduced propulsive effort to the serious inconvenience of all other forms of traffic : cleaner streets, with less camber, will he welcomed by all. •
Anyone who has come, as the writer has, into personal touch with borough councillors and their officers knows how eager they usually are to see their streets a credit to them in all respects. They do not like to hear of horses with cut knees, and we trust they have no desire to be regaled by spicy accounts of motorbuses in distress ! May we, then, make a request fur the introduction of that thin edge of the wedge which oftentimes results in real advances? It will, admittedly, be a small beginning if a few scavengers, armed with " squeegees," are allocated to notoriously bad spots, where, at present, crowds of loiterers jibe and gape at motorbus drivers in temporary difficulties. The cost will be negligible, whilst the practical gain to the large body of ratepayers who are so often impeded, both upon the fractious omnibus and other vehicles, will be not inconsiderable. It is unfair to seek to throw all the blame on the designers and drivers of the motorbuses, for a large share should be borne by the local bodies who, judged by the stereotyped nature of their street-cleansing methods, might be wedded to dirt and the historic past. This adherence to a plan of operations which, though possibly less dangerous to exclusively horsed traffic, is not in accordance with new demands and exigencies, amounts to nothing less than misfeasance on the part of the authorities at fault.
Sell-contained Wagons v.
Independent Tractors.
Contractors who have endeavoured to make a profit from the use of self-contained motor wagons, where the freight has been sought from sundry consignors, are seldom able to report success. Where the consignees have, also, been many in number, there has frequently been, owing to delays and irregular loading, a loss on the undertaking. There is a Central fact, in relation to the adoption of mechanical transport, that cannot be too often reiterated by us, and that is the fatuity of buying a motor vehicle for idling purposes. The mechanical unit, it is true, does not " eat its head off " like the horse, but it is only in a limited number of special cases, e.g., alternate days or periods of heavy and light deliveries, during the quiet intervals of which the spare horses have been an occasion of constant expense, that the motor has come Out to be more economical than the horsed vehicle •quae the criterion of cost in loitering and killing time. Whereas a pair-horse team, with its driver and . a 5-ton wagon, can be remuneratively worked by a haulage contractor if he sees an average return of only 15 shillings per day, or even less than this, experience has proved that the motor contractor must earn not less than an average of 30 shilling per wagon per day to survive. The separate owner who runs motor wagons solely in his own trade, rightly calculates on a smaller inclusive working cost, which may fall as low as that quoted above for the daily return to a cart owner, but a, proprietor of this class does not also look for his profits from the vehicles, neither has he to debit them with the whole of his establishment charges ! The differences between the two classes of service have, during the past few months, undergone close analysis by those who have been, in the past, ardent supporters of the self-contained wagon, in preference to the independent steam tractor, under all circumstances, and it is a sign of the times to learn that some, at Least, of these competent judges have decided to put their money upon the tractor for haulage work to order. They arc by no means unqualified supporters of the steam horse, and they continue to advocate the use of motor wagons where " point-to-point " loading is possible, and we heartily approve their constancy in such instances.
The miniature traction engine is now having its turn, and the next twelve months will demonstrate how far its distinct qualities will enable it to oust the motor wagon. Whilst
possessed of merits not found in the self-contained vehicle, where mechanism and carrying platform are neither articulated nor separable, it has yet to be conclusively proved that the tractor will not introduce new difficulties of road control and general management, for the trailed vehicles must, in many cases, be horsed at the distributing depots before delivery can be completed. The controversy as to the respective advantages of the two types of light road locomotives is far from settlement; each has its own spheres.
Advertising Motorvans.
The advertisement value of the motorvan has been recognised in this country from the earliest days of the operation of the iSe6 Act. Ti he bulk of those who placed orders for so-called commercial motors, eight years ago, when the claims of the utility vehicle were prematurely advanced, were manufacturers and tradesmen who realised the advertisement value of an ambulatory hoarding. Although it is held by some that the novelty of the motorvan is a waning quality, no tradesman, unless he deliberately closes his eyes to facts, can deny mat the value of street advertising is greater to-day than it ever has been. The avidity with which hoardings in main thoroughfares are taken up by the enterprising advertising contractor; and the lavish expenditure upon artistic posters has never been exceeded. Further, firms and companies have been forced into line, of necessity, in the fight for business, against their old conservative instincts of a few years back. Prices tor good positions axe advancing, and 11011C but the large advertiser can secure guaranteed sites. It is an opportune moment for us, once again, to emphasise the value of the motorvan as an advertising medium. A hundred fixed posters can hardly be equal to a single motorvan, which vehicle provides something like too square feet of announcement space, and which telling area can be kept travelling along important streets, per. forming useful delivery service at the same time, throughout the day, and, also, if desired, at night time when the average hoarding is hidden in obscurity. We publish, as part of our report in connection with the motor vehicles now on view at the Brewers' Exhibition, an illustration of a highly attractive advertisement motor owned by Messrs. Worthington, and we are satisfied that no more promising branch of advertisement outlay presents itself for adoption by
up-to-date houses. Such vans cost a maximum of per week for running, maintenance, and depreciation, and that is the equivalent of only is corresponding fixed spaces, of equal area to the sides and ends of an ordinary van, in really good positions. The motor, although it can never be in two places at once, is able to travel at least so _miles a day, allowing for numerous calls on the road, and it is no exaggeration to say that it is the intrinsic equivalent of too ordinary advertisement stations.