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The Swiftest City in the World.

27th July 1911, Page 1
27th July 1911
Page 1
Page 1, 27th July 1911 — The Swiftest City in the World.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

London, in the old days of stone paving, was known as the noisiest city in the world. Nobody was supposed really to know anything about London, unless he had stood in the middle of Hyde Park and listened to the roar of which its regular inhabitants pretended to be proud. We publish elsewhere in this issue (pages 436-7) a letter which has been left behind by an old worker in the cause of heavy traffic, Mr. Walter L. Bodman, who is now on his way back to America and whom we may incidentally recall to mind as the joint contributor of a paper at the Liverpool Royal Institution, on the subject of "superheated steam systems," during the second session of papers. 1897-1898, of the Liverpool Self-Propelled Traffic Association. Mr. 13odman is himself a London man, by birth and upbringing, although he was resident in Lancashire for many years before his departure to America some 12 years ago. His impressions, and his expressed opinion that London is "the swiftest city in the world," cannot fail to be of interest, and the more so because all those whose travels enable them to judge between traffic conditions in European and other capitals know that his view is a true reflection of fact. Paris started ahead of London, particularly on the touring-car side, but London, with the aid of the motorbus .the motorcab and the motorvan, as well as of the motorcar, has gone ahead, during the past four years, to an extent which is so marked that no competent observer can ignore the claim which is now made on behalf of the heart of the British Empire. It is only fair•to the Metropolitan police, when passing any comment upon this happy state of affairs, that it should be_ freely owned that they have contributed materially to the progress noted, in that they realize that the roads exist for the traffic to pass over them. and not with a view to its being unnecessarily " held up " in consequence of ridiculous and arbitrary sneed limits. We again quote the reported comment of one of London's traffic superintendents, when he was asked to give his opinion of a proposed six-mile-anhour limit for Piccadilly and certain other important thoroughfares. He remarked: "We should want all Wednesday to dear Tuesday's traffic out of the way." It will be seen that, for the title of this short article, we have utilized Mr. Bodman's own colloquial phrase; exactly as he has written it. This choice has been made because the words admirably convey the main point in his letter. All who are identified with one or other of the several branches of commercial motoring, which side of the industry has so largely aided the changes, will be pleased to have their share emphasized in relation to its broader influences.

A Sign of Bad Driving.

One of the indications of good driving, and most of all of good driving of a passenger-carrying vehicle, is found in the slight release of the brakes, instead of their being kept hard on, when the speed of the vehicle over the road has been reduced almost to nothing. A fair proportion of motorbus drivers, it must be admitted, appreciates this important factor, and regularly gives effect to it in practice. Others, we regret to state, and they are numerous, ignore it in a fashion which leads to considerable extra wear and tear upon the mechanism and body-work, whilst at the same time giving just cause to passengers to complain about the unnecessary jars and shocks to which they are subjected. It would be a good move on the part of either the engineering or traffic branch of the principal motorbus companies, were their managements to tell off a certain number of inspectors for the specific purpose of curing this evil, for no other word fits the case. It is an evil which drives away custom, and which threatens to allow the one remaining drawback to motorbuses to be perpetuated. It is probable the attention of the offending men needs merely to be drawn to this fault in their driving, because we have reason to believe that motorbus drivers as individuals take a distinct pride in their reputation for knowing how to handle the machines which are entrusted to them. Bad clutch work and bad speed changing have virtually disappeared, but poor brake manipulation has not disappeared. It is true that this releasing of the brake immediately before—the vehicle is brought to rest, or immediately before it has been slowed down to the speed at which it is to be allowed to proceed for the time being, is the ultimate refinement of correct driving, RO far as the use of the brake goes, and we believe that the average driver of a motorbus does not wish to he guilty of any neglect in any branch of his work. The worst cases of all, and they are admittedly few in number, are provided by the men who invariably drive hard up to each and every obstruction in front of them, and then nut on the brakes violently. This behaviour is really a reflection upon the intelligence of the drivers about whom we write, because it clearly demonstrates that their mental qualities are of so low an order that they cannot look ahead in the traffic sufficiently to calculate what is going to hanpen a few seconds later than the instant with which they are concerned. Driving is an art, and the proper use of the brake is one of the several expressions of its highest development. Whereas, in the case of goods vehicles, it ix the tires, transmission and coachwork that suffer, the consequences are more serious where passengers are being carried, because revenue is deliberately thrust aside, and innumerable pennies go to competing transport undertakings whose vehicles, if they do occasionally come to rest with a jerk, and start in like fashion, at least do it comparatively seldom. 'Van drivers should also take heed.


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