How the Royal Commission's Report May Affect Road Transport
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AFTER a careful consideration of the many important recommendations put forward by the Royal Commission on Transport, we have come to the .conclusion that, taken as. a whole,: they should prove beneficial to tlie User' of commercial Vehicle.S, whether these be for the transport of goods or passengers: Many ddubtful points whichwere contained. in the bid‘ Draft Road nit* Bill have been cleared up.. and amendments . made.' It is apparent that the members constituting this Commission, have not adopted the pro-railway attitude which wasso marked in the case of the Draft Bill, but haVe realized that commercial transport by road is of such vast • importance, representing so much . capital and direct and indirect eimployment to somany people, that it must be given some teal measures of protection and encouragement.
The Maximum Speeds for Business. Vehicles.
Of the greatest importance in our view is, of course, the suggested .raising of the speed limit to 35 m.p.h. in the case of passenger vehicles mounted on pneumatic tyres and carrying more than eight persons. In view of the safety of the modern coach and its powerful braking, we think that this figure could well be raised considerably and elasticity permitted to meet the striking advances certain to occur ; also, in our view, the goods vehicle running on pneumatic tyres and specially constructed for fast delivery work is comparable with the coach so far as safety at speed is concerned.
• We do not think that there would be much • complaint at a speed limit of 30 m.p.h. for goods vehicles fitted with pneumatic tyres and weighing under 2i tons, but that those weighing over this and similarly equipped should be limited to 20 m.p.h. will undoubtedly be considered too drastic a restriction. We strongly • advocate that this limit should be raised to 25 m.p.h., otherwise the long-distance haulage of medium and heavy loads will experience a severe setback. This remark does ,not apply to the motor tractor, for which 20 m.p.h. should be ample. An important recommendation' is that the old definition a a "heavy motor car" should be amended and that only goods vehicles over 2i tons in weight unladen should be so classified, lighter goods vehicles being classed as "motor cars -(goods)." Common sense is also shown In' the qlassification of articulated vehicles or tractor trailers as single vehicles for the purpose of speed regulation.
As, regards the speeds of heavy locomotives (Le:, vehicles of a weight unladen exceeding 11Atons) the'Maxithum rates proposed in the Draft Bill Were 2 M.p.h. in towns and villages and 4 m.p.h elsewhere, and it is suggested that these speeds should each be increased by making 3 m.p.h. and 5 m.p.h. respectiVely.". whilst light locomotives (i.e., 'those weighing under 111tons but over 7i tons) are restricted to 8 -M.p.h.when not drawing more than-two trailers and when mounted throughout on soft or elastic tyres, and to 5 m.p.h., instead of -4 in-any other ease.
Of considerable interest is the recommendation regarding third-party-risk insurance, which,, it is considered by the Commission, should be compulsOry. We do not think that this; If brought into force, would have so much effect upon the owner of a commercial vehicle as upon the owner of a private car. In the majority of instances those concerned with the running of passenger and business vehicles are already covered in this respect; particularly in the case of the former. To make it universal, however, will be a matter of no little difficulty.
Problems of Third-party Insurance.
If one of the conditions of the issue of a licence be the possession or obtaining of a policy for third-party insurance, and such insurance be refused by the companies, then, in effect, those companies would control the issue of the licence, and this would be an Impossible situation. It would appear that the best method would be to issue the policy with the licence, and such an arrangement could easily be come to by the Government and the
companies Concerned. This would ensure the policy covering the same period as the licence: It may well be that the driver of a horsed vehicle might be considered as responsible for an accident ; therefore any compulsory insurance should be applicable to all vehicles using the road. Among other points to be considered in this connection would be the covering of the purchaser of a second-hand vehicle who took possession and had it driven away before the transference of the old licence. The temporary risk of the original owner would also have to be removed.
The raising from 14 to 16 of the qualifying age for obtaining a motorcycle licence would affect a considerable number of lads driving small parcel-carriers which are not capable of high road speed, and, undoubtedly, many business houses and contracting companies would be put to great inconvenience and expense. We think that no one will object to the suggestion not to issue to anyone under 21 a licence to drive a public-service vehicle or a goods vehicle weighing over 2* tons.
A serious accusation of the Commissionis that the worst offenders with regard to the parking of vehicles on public roads are owners of long-distance motorbuses and coaches, who are stated often to leave their vehicles for hours together while waiting for the return journey, and it is suggested that they should be compelled to provide their own garages at terminal points, just as the railway companies have to provide their own stations. We would point out that coach stations which are designed to avoid this difficulty are being brought into service as quickly as possible, and already some of considerable importance are in use, but Many more would be necessary to cope with the great increase in this form of traffic, and drastic regulations, if enforced too soon, would inevitably throw many services into a state of hopeless confusion. With regard to the personnel for locomotives hauling trailers, we are glad to note that it is deemed sufficient to have two men on the locomotive, a third man being required only if there be more than two trailers.
We fully agree with the recommendation that a proper inquiry should be held by the Ministry of Transport in the case of each accident to a public-service vehicle involving fatalities to passengers.
Traffic Control: An Improvement which Could be Effected.
TN the past few years, although considerable --Lattention has been centred upon the question of relieving road-traffic congestion in busy towns, little appears to have been done in this country to improve the method of controlling vehicular traffic at cross roads. A few provincial towns 'nave adopted the system of automatic lamp signals, but authorities are slow even to experiment with ideas that are new to England.
Whatever the reason for this may be, the fact remains that an improvement in traffic control at cross roads could be effected almost immediately, and without the installation of special signalling lamps, if the authorities would but realize one underlying truth which must be apparent to all. Shorten the " hold-up " periods at cross roads and the congestion will be lessened. Traffic constables often hold back one stream of traffic for a Minute or more, and then change over and delay the other stream for an equally long period. So marked is this in some instances that drivers are forced to the conclusion that the saving dl trouble to the officers concerned is looked upon as being the most important consideration. If those concerned with traffic control could be instructed that at all busy cross roads the traffic-stop periods in both directions must be considerably shortened, and if they could be supervised to ensure the continuation of this expedition, the congestion in cities like London would be relieved noticeably.