O.S. Vindication
Page 32
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LIMITED experience of abnormal indivisible loads on Preston by-pass has justified the forecast by the road haulage industry that they would cause no hindrance or danger to other traffic on motor roads. Mr. Harold Watkinson, Minister of Transport, has graciously admitted his error' in banning outsize vehicles except by ,special dispensation from the chief constable of Lancashire,, and now proposes that loads up to 14 ft. wide should be permitted to be carried freely on future motorways and, after August I, on Preston by-Pass.
The only condition is that notice of an intended movement must be given to the highway and police authorities, in accordance with the Motor Vehicles (Authorization of Special Types) General Order, 1955. Journeys will also be subject to police direction. Loads wider than 14 ft. will, subject to Parliamentary approval, be permitted if, they are authorized under an individual Order made under Section. 3 of the Road Traffic Act, 1930.
As abnormal indivisible loads have created no dislocation on Preston by-pass, which carries only two lanes of traffic in a 24-ft. carriageway in each direotion, they must obviously be entirely acceptable on roads built to full motorway standard, with three traffic lanes in each 36-ft. carriageway. The Minister's acknowledgement of this fact is welcome and is consistent with his policy of building roads primarily to facilitate the country's trade and industry, rather than to provide race ' tracks for a minority of enthusiastic motorists with fast cars.
His decision to perpetuate unrestricted speeds on motorways (except in the case of vehicles drawing trailers with fewer than four wheels or with four closecoupled wheels) is also to be applauded. Good disdpline on motorways is far more conducive to safety than limited speed.
Experience suggests that relatively, few vehicles travel at greater speeds on Preston by-pass than they do on normal good main roads. Traffic-lane discipline, however, leaves something to be desired. There is a woeful tendency for slow drivers to monopolize the off-side fast lane and to show in other ways that they have not read the Motorway Code.
If serious accidents are to be avoided, the Code must be strictly enforced. For at least the first few months after the London-Birmingham motorway has been opened there should be continuous police patrols in cars with public-address systems, to correct drivers' faults and to shepherd traffic into the appropriate channels, Public remonstrance should have a salutary effect on heedless drivers. If it does not, the police should press for maximum penalties in the courts for careless driving.