Let Coaches Travel at 50 m.p.h.
Page 74
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FOLLOWING the announcement that the Minister of Transport is to propose increasing the speed limit for heavy passenger -vehicles and the invitation to interested parties to give their views on the matter, would the opinion of the average driver count for anything, or would such a view be taken as expressed by the unions?
The reason I ask is this: the unions may say that if the limit is raised, their members would be expected to maintain faster schedules and do more work in a given time. I fail to see how a 40-mph. limit, in view of the state of our roads and the congestion that is experienced now in most towns, could speed-up services. The only advantage would be that where a driver now has to break the law to maintain schedules of 30 m.p.h., or perhaps I should say, trying to keep to schedule while the, speed limit is 30 m.p.h., he would not have the constant worry and anxiety of being " booked" for speeding if the limit were to be increased.
I would like to see the speed limit raised, in fact I would suggest that the limit for surburban buses on derestricted roads be increased to 40 m.p.h. and a 50mph. limit allowed for express and long-distance coaches, also for private coaches. Even if a limit of 50 m.p.k was granted I maintain that it would be safer than at present I can assure you that the majority of drivers with whom I come into contact would much welcome an increase, not just for the sake of the extra speed but to be rid of the constant worry and anxiety of being picked up for a few mites an hour "over the odds."
I have been coach driving now since 1925, during which time I have collected quite. a number of convictions for exceeding the limit, most of which were acquired on the Liverpool to London coach service. I was on this work from 1928 to 1935, and for four years of this period on the night service. It was no uncommon thing to arrive home in the morning from London to find a police officer waiting at home for me, a cup of tea in one hand and a warrant in the tither.
I have tried so far to give the views of the average driver for an increase in the limit, and will now endeavour to give part of the reason for the high speed of passenger vehicles which is sometimes noticed.
Take as a typical example, a driver running from, say, Lancashire to the South West; he leaves his starting point • on time and, under normal conditions, has ample time to do the journey, but through such towns as Bristol, Bridgwater, Taunton and Exeter it is no uncommon thing to be delayed for over an hour in one or other of these. From my own observation these delays have in most cases been due to the stupid and selfish manner in which some car drivers have parked their cars in the main streets, thereby causing one-way traffic.
Then again there is the member of the "they shall not pass" brigade who, out in his car for the day, with no set programme and merely enjoying the scenery does about 15-20 m.p.h., then, when an attempt is made to overtake him, "opens up" slightly, so that the vehicle which has tried to overtake falls behind again. The first driver then slows down. This procedure can go on for miles and has happened to me on numerous occasions. Farther on, there may be a good wide road and the coach driver, realizing he is running late for the meal D32 stop, puts his "foot down" and may then be "hooked" for doing a few miles over the limit.
Summing up, I would say that if the speed were increased to 40 m.p.h. it would ease the driver's mind and rid him of a lot of anxiety but would not benefit the operator.. If it were increased to 50 m.p.h. this would help to speed-up services and relieve congestion.
Huyton, pear Liverpool. A. HOUGH.
Come, Ride with Me— On a Bus
MANY people, bus travellers like myself, have urged "I me to write to you from the viewpoint of the passenger. Incidentally, travel by bus costs me 18s. 6d. per week.
I have not sent this to the ordinary newspapers because I want to get it in where it will be read with the " elevenses " and the whisky in the boardrooms. I think of those fellows when I catch my leg on the high platform of some new design that they have instigated.
Come and ride with me all you designers of buses, also you drivers of Jaguars, and try to appreciate what the average bus passenger experiences. Put down that cocktail and stop backslapping each other concerning all the marvellous jobs at the last Commercial Motor Show. It is time someone got down to a few plain facts.
The railways close down a branch line and poor old Joe Public has only the bus left. Then we have the old story of the war—take it or leave it. My brother-in-law was chief body designer with one of the leading commercial-vehicle manufacturers and certainly he never travelled in a bus.
I am convinced that the designers of one of the biggest and most lovely buses at Earls Court had not the foggiest idea of how the thing would operate in the rush hour. At the Show I carefully examined every bus, sat in it and tried to imagine taking a ls. 6d. ride or crowding in after a football match, a picttire show or with shoppers each carrying a shopping bag. I felt that the designers were too concerned with the extra fares per bus-mile rather than with the comfort of the passengers.
London, S.W.1. J. A. SUMNER.
Eire Claims Lead in Traffic Signals
IT is rather intriguing to read that experiments are only I now being made in Leicester with regard to the omission of the red-amber phase from the traffic-lights sequence.
Ireland first introduced traffic lights in Dublin in 1937 and changed over to the red-green sequence some 15 years later. Since then there has never been the slightest doubt that it was a progressive step.
When the lights are due to change from green to red, the few moments' amber warning is essential, but for the person waiting at red at the lights to make a quick getaway, the amber can act only as a temptation. It is an unfortunate fact that many drivers will continue on if they are within 40 or 50 yards of the lights when they flash amber. It is obviously essential that the waiting driver should receive no encouragement to move until the green is showing.
Dublin. GERALD J. O'SHAUGHNESSY, Public Relations Officer, Ryans Car Hire, Ltd.