Segregate Road Users, Says Minister

6th May 1960, Page 95

6th May 1960

Page 95

Page 95, 6th May 1960 — Segregate Road Users, Says Minister

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ELEVEN stone of human being could never compete with a ton of vehicle, said Mr. Ernest Marples, Minister of Transport, at the annual dinner of the Traders Road Transport Association, in London. on Monday. The essence of road safety, he added, lay in segregating the various types of user, but it might not be until the third quarter of the century that we could come to terms with the motor vehicle.

In the meantime, the best use must be made of existing roads and no fruitful experiment in traffic engineering should be ignored. He hoped that the Road Traffic and Roads Itnprovenneut Bill now before Parliament would clarify the rules to be obeyed by all classes of road user and that new powers for the Minister would result in speedier road reconstruction. He promised to hold a just balance between all • the conflicting interests involved in the matter.

Mr. N. C. Macdiarmid, chairman of the Council of Iron Producers, said the problems of road ,and rail demanded fundamental rethinking, free from sectional or 'parochial attitudes. Commercial and public transport must be allowed priority over the private motorist, he declared, because increased delivery costs would inevitably be reflected in an increase in the cost of