Scientific Approach

26th September 1952, Page 115

26th September 1952

Page 115

Page 115, 26th September 1952 — Scientific Approach

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OBSERVERS with no axe to. grind may well be puzzled at the angry squabbles now taking place on such matters as denationalization, the levy, the 25-mile limit and the licensing system. The detached view of the historian was, in fact, turned on the'transport industry more than once during the recent meetings of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in Belfast. The conclusions drawn from this dispassionate scrutiny ace not always palatable either to the provider or user of transport.

Prof C. F. Carter suggested the setting-up of a Royal Commission. The idea is not new, but it is hard to accept the professor's argument that the Royal Commission would provide a "cooling-oft period" during which the industry would get over the present surfeit of politics. The assumption•is that the situation would remain more or less the same. Far from this being the case, widespread changes are taking place at the present time in, for example, the relative importance of road and rail, the provision by traders of their own transport and the establishment by the British Transport Commission of a long-distance monopoly. The spirit of scientific inquiry that Prof. Carter plans to introduce would raise the temperature rather than lower it.

Mr. Churchill at least realizes this fact. He told an audience at Woodford earlier this month that one of the results it is hoped to achieve from denationalization is to check the increase in the number of C-licensed vehicles. However one may feel about his diagnosis and suggested treatment, he is right in recognizing that the transport industry is continuously changing and that, if the direction in which it is moving requires to be altered, the sooner positive action is taken the better.

Later in his address Prof. Carter not only agreed with the proposal for a levy, but suggested that it should be at a higher rate for C-licence holders than for professional carriers. Even Mr Churchill would scarcely go as far as this. There may or may not be statistical proof to support the professor's contention, but no politician, however brash or courageous, would be likely to adopt it. There are limits to the value of the cold scientific approach.

Emotional Outbursts

On the other hand, this frame of mind helps when the experts are discussing road behaviour, which was the subject of another session of the British Association. Emotional outbursts at the number of accidents deserve and obtain sympathy, but do not help to find a solution. So long as there are roads, there will be accidents on them. The aim must be to reduce the number to the minimum.

The study of road behaviour and road accidents has brought to light some curious facts, according to what was reported at Belfast. When the traffic lights change to red and amber in London, about a quarter of the motorists start to move, and in the outskirts about half. The safest pedestrians are women between the ages of 20 and 40. The percentage of women using pedestrian crossings is greater than the percentage of men; and the percentage of children is highest of all.

To Some people this may, seem a circuitous and even frivolous method of dealing with a serious and urgent matter. But it is becoming generally recognized that statistics can play an important part in solving the accident problem. Even the simplest of sums can be of use, as is shown by the latest publication of the British Road Federation, "The Road Way to Safety." Its lesson is that road safety is to a great extent a matter of pounds, shillings and pence. An adequate and up-todate road system is the ideal, but the meantime money intelligently spent on improving black spots can bring results.

The booklet shows some of the results and illustrates them with photographs and sketch-maps. All the examples are impressive. In some places where accidents were frequent, comparatively minor changes have eliminated them. This applies, for example, to a spot at Watersfield, north of Arundel, where three roads form a triangle. Small improvements were made to the road layout in June, 1950, and one side of the triangle was restricted to traffic in one direction. In five years previously there were eight accidents in which 15 people were injured. Subsequently, there were no accidents in two years.

Obvious Remedies In other instances other methods have been adopted. Roundabouts have been placed at busy crossings. Wood blocks have been replaced with surfaces less likely to cause skids. Improved street lighting has been installed. Hedges and other obstructions have been removed. Humpback bridges have been levelled and obsolete bridges taken away. None of these changes has required any great inventiveness. They have been obvious to road users and to the authorities. Only the money has been wanting. The average cost of whitening a black spot is approximately £3,000. If, as has been stated, there be 50,000 such spots, between 50 and 100 years will be needed to deal with them at the present rate at which money for this purpose is being made available.

Obviously, the money must be found more quickly. Where expenditure can prevent accidents, the cost should not be counted too strictly. It is likely to be less than the cost to the victims. Once a black spot has been made safe, it remains so. Moreover, its elimination meets with the approval of practically everybody. There may be the occasional individual with the penal outlook, who believes that the problem cannot be solved without making things unpleasant for somebody or other—usually the motorists, whose speed or numbers he wants reduced. The general opinion favours road improvements, not only because they save lives, but because in many cases they actually enable the road user to go faster without adding to the danger.

On October 15, representatives of nearly 40 organizations will study the road problem together at a meeting called by Lord Llewellin, president of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. Although the original impetus is to be found in a suggestion by the Duke of Edinburgh that the organizations should not work in watertight compartments, it should be remembered that many of the bodies concerned already work closely together, in organizations of their own devising as well as on the Ministry of Transport's road safety committee, and so on. Nevertheless, there are certain points on which some of the associations may find difficulty in reaching agreement. The elimination of black spots is not one of these points, and it could usefully be given an early place on the agenda of the meeting next month.