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' How to Reduce Traffic Dangers.

4th September 1923
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Page 1, 4th September 1923 — ' How to Reduce Traffic Dangers.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

IT IS not realized by the majority of the people that the expansion of the motor movement in the past few years has been simply stupendousi, but an hour or two's study of the traffic on the main roads during week-ends, when the motorist is out and about, in the streets of Central London on any working day, and on the main arteries of goods traffic night and day, should provide some portion of the evidence needed to give tangibility to the vague statistics of the licensing returns. The mishaps on the road and the charges in the police courts may not be out of proportion to the increased traffic ; but, when one reads the daily record, the conclusion is forced upon all right-thinking men that the number of accidents and the number of charges against motor drivers are assuming formidable proportions, and that the time has arrived for considering the best means of reducing them. • We do not like to see such words as " reckless " and " careless" applied to motor drivers, yet they are the commonest phrases of the public, the police, and the Bench. It is not untrue to say that but for the reckless and careless pedestrian, cyclist, • horse-driver, and dog-owner, accidents on the road would be remarkably few. Probably, in time, each of these classes will be made to accept responsibility for the cost of this carelessness. A great deal is being done in the school's to instil into children greater caution on the highways, and the horsedriver is dying out, so that some improvement may reasonably be expected in these quarters.

Motor drivers must, however, not take their driving too lightly, and a -great deal can be done towards improvement by owners and users of commercial vehicles—both goods and passenger carrying. They should take trouble in impressing upon their drivers the need for care in driving and for the proper observance of traffic rules and customs. They should encourage good driving and the avoidance of accidents by commendation and bonus. They should see that every vehicle is equipped with a rear mirror and should encourage the men to use them, because many accidents occur through motorists speeding up after having been delayed behind a big vehicle, the driver of which could not hear their signal calls. Again, something will have to be done to reduce the volume of sound in which the driver of a heavy vehicle is embedded, consisting, as it does, of mechanical noises, exhaust sounds, body and load rattles, and cab reverberations.

A Prize Fund of £250 for the Best Suggestions for Highway Safety.

WHILST THERE has been a great deal of exaggeration concerning road dangers, the fact remains that something should be done to improve existing conditions, and we believe that the motoring community, if it be asked to assist in the matter, could provide a number of ideas which would help materially to solve the problem. And we are equally sure' that whatever reasonable schemes are introduced will; so far as the commercial vehicle industry, is concerned, • be welcomed both by : employer and employee, because, as it must be remembered, in the case of the commercial vehicle, the use and driving of it are but means to an end—the delivery of the goods—and are not so much an end in themselves as when a vehicle is being employed as a source of pleaaure: .

.. ' Many p ro p os al s for the bettering of road conditions and the reduction of the number of accidents have been discussed in our hearing, and it is felt that others could be brought to light if an opportunity were provided. The proprietors of The Commercial Moto,', The Motor, The Light Car and Cyclecar, and Motor Cycling are therefore, offering a sum of £250 divided into 150 awards of 210 downwards for brief but usefulsuggestions. from readers, conveyed on a postcard or by letter addressed to the editor of any one of the journals.

Wireless Control of Motor Transport.

WE publish in this issue a very interesting and, . incidentally, exclusive description of a recently conducted practical demonstration of the way in which a vehicle can be controlled from headquarters while it is out on the open road and without tangible means of interconnection. As we have previously pointed out, this development opens up several possibilities, for in addition to a repairshop keeping in touch with a mobile van that is on the road it would be extremely useful if the vehicles employed by a parcels collecting and delivery agency could receive messages from headquarters while they were on the road.

Again fire-engines could be wirelessly equipped, so that Again, are never out of touch with the brigade station, and, in short, there are a multitude of instances in which a considerable saving of time and money could be effected. The technical description of the set used shows that no very complicated appar-. atus is required. The cost, we understand, is not excessive, whilst the upkeep expenses Would certainly be -counterbalanced by the saving in time effected were the apparatus intelligently used.

Why the Agrimotor Makes Slow Headway.

STATISTICS 'published, from time to time, by the Ministry of Transport :enable us to watch the development of the agrimotor, and, it' must be admitted that for some time there has been evidence of retrogression instead of advance in the use of mechanical power on the farm. Thus,in 1921, 18,179 agrimotors were registered and licensed ; in the following year the number had become reduced to 17,293, some of the machines having been converted. to haulage and other -uses, and some having been put out of action. A still further falling off in the number of appliances in use was shown by the registration ocn figures as recorded up to the end of May last, b which ocn figures as recorded up to the end of May last, b date only 14,946 had been registered. We should expect a further 2,000 to be registered and put into use in time for the autumn operations on the farms. These figures will show that little or no progress is being made, the gains of new adherents being almost balanced by the losses of the farmers who have returned to horses, and the new purchases by the machines the useful life of which has ended. Hewever, the weather during the present harvest has been of the kind which is known as "catchy," and those farmers who have moved with the times and have had some of their hands trained in the management and manipulation of agrimotors have enjoyed the benefit, for they have been able to take the opportunity whenever suitable weather conditions prevailed to harvest their crops with commensurate gains to themselves and the country, for the loss of some thousands of pounds' worth of crops can have far-reaching effect upon the food markets. Farmers owning or employing agrirnotors have been able, too„ to plough up the stubble immediately the crop is off the ground and this permits 'of an early sowing of autumn crops.

The trouble, despite the fact that the agrimotor does its work • cheaper and better than horses whilst giving a farmer better control over the timing of all his farming operations, lies in the absence of mechanical-minded men amongst the agricultural population. We have not found, as a general rule, that the motor engineer located in an agricultural district is willing to be bothered to keep, say, a Couple of agrimotors and to undertake the ploughing, reaping, threshing, cultivation and other work of the local farmers under contract. He is probably right in his attitude, for he is an engineer and not a ploughing contractor. In the latter guise he would have to compete in his prices with the ploughmen and ether farm labourers, and there would be little in it for him beyond the interest on the capital laid out on the appliance. What will be the salvation of the agrimotor will be the spread of motor knowledge amongst the farmers, their sons and their employees, and it is for that reason that the cheap motorcar or lorry is to be welcomed, because they provide the means of education that is required.

Keeping the Fuel Bill Down.

0 UR recent-remarks on thermal efficiency and the correspondence which followed shed some interesting light on petrol consumption figures. The enormous influence of the frequent stops, traffic delays and careless driving, which often obtain under the working conditions of the average commercial vehicle, do not seem to be fully realized.

Manufacturers are naturally inclined to state the best ton mileages of which their vehicles are capable, these being based on the results obtained by •expert drivers under the best conditions. These figures, however, may prove very misleading to the average user. .

There are many ways in which a keen driver can improve the petrol consumption figure of his vehicle; without resorting to special fitments Such as extraair devices; etc. We have often thought that more Might be don& by the owners of fleets to encourage a competitive spirit among their drivers, with perhaps a small inducement in the way of a bonus or other monetary award for the driver who secures the best results. This might very well be coupled with brief instructional " talks " on the subject of petrol consumption, the factors which affect it, and how good figures can be obtained.

We know of at least one firm who have secured a great reduction in the petrol consumption of the vehicles comprising their fleet by encouraging competition between drivers on these lines. For the successful . working of such a scheme it is essential to keep accurate records of the petrol issued to each driver, and the running times.

The idea might be unworkable if there were wide discrepancies between the loads of different lorries, but in the cases of fleets of vehicles engaged on regular deliveries and similar work no great difficulties should arise.

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Locations: London

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