"Loud and Continuous" Warning.
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Ye gods! 'l'o whom belongs the Machiavellian ingenuity which has prompted Sir Alexander Bruce to issue the latest notice from New Scotland Yard? The subtilty of this threatened regulation lies in the fact that the "audible warning" can only be "loud and continuous" at times when the arbitrary speed limits are being exceeded, and the obvious retort, to those who assert they hear noise enough already, is that there should be no addition—but at what cost? Astuteness, in this case, as is so often true, is found associated with short-sightedness, and we predict that the public will, before many months of application are completed, have none of k. The frightened drivers will force on their brakes, to protect themselves against fines, and passengers will feel the folly of the whole business. NO, the earlier the date at which the Commissioner requires all public carriages to be so fitted, the sooner will come round the stage of general education that must enforce the abandonment of hard-and-fast limits which have no regard for variations in traffic conditions, and no respect for the open road ahead.
The fitting of such a speed-controlled hooter or buzzer presents no mechanical difficulty. It can be done, in any one of several ways, but the " cure " will have evil effects which will go beyond the good (sic) one sought. It will, if rigidly observed and enforced, increase accidents and congestion in the Metropolis. The warning note will be sounded, in a considerable percentage of cases, under circumstances which cannot fail to disconcert the driver by throwing him into a state of mental indecision ; the demonstrable impossibility of overtaking, except at the cost of repeated temporary breaches of the regulation, will add to the congestion of traffic, by reducing the average point-to-point speed of the whole. Furthermore, the
rpublic has tasted the sweets of rapid travelling, and it will not tamely endure the imposition of a maximum which means an average of, perhaps, not more than twothirds of the speed which has been sanctioned by Parliament and/or the Local Government Board. It is a mistake—a grievous blunder—to allow no latitude whatsoever, arid we appeal for some measure of grace. It is open to question, legally, whether " 12 miles an hour" for motorbuses or "20 miles per hour" for motorcabs and motorcars allows cognisance to be taken, solely under the speed-limit clauses of the 1904 Order and the 1903 Act, of any period of time less than one hour. We have not seen the point raised, though the drafting does not specifically contain the words "at the rate of," or their equivalent, and we desire to protest on reasonable grounds, which are more likely to tell. Does the Commissioner wish to see the average speed. of traffic in London reduced? Do not all his point constables, his inspectors and his superintendents back the view that motors are a real boon to them? This being so, why set back the march of progress by a rule which will hamper and not assist? To allow nothing to the motorbus and the rnotorcab for the purposes of overtaking, and to allow nothing to the driver who must make a spurt to avoid a collision, is to elevate the letter of the law in the face of commonsense. Can we not have a margin to meet the oft-recurring exigencies of London traffic? We hope so, if it be merely that the motorbus be allowed only 15m.p.h.—with a time limit. Why not set a maximum term to the "loud and continuous" emission of the siren's note? That would be on a parallel with the" temporary or accidental "exemption clause, in Section I of the 1896 Act, with regard to the emission of smoke or visible vapour. Another parallel is found in the administration of the Public Health Acts, so far as a time limit goes for the necessary and excusable period of black-smoke emission from a factory chimney, which ranges from to to 25 minutes. We pray for like consideration on behalf of motorbus and motorcab owners and drivers. Whether it be in the shape of a percentage margin in the setting of the indicator, or a time limit of ,o or 40 seconds per fleeting excess, equity and public polity call out for something of the kind. The former proposition appears to us to be the simpler, and its adoption can in no sense be held to imply an official sanctioning of breaches of the law, for it might equally be held that the definite order never—no, not for a few seconds—to exceed the statutory rate, though slavish obedience rendered a collision inevitable, was an instruction to drive to the common danger ! This is a direct converse, and the Commissioner will be confronted by plenty of them.
Finally, while the contemplated regulation is under discussion, we would impress upon makers of speedometer and other indicator devices the necessity for provision that the " release " limits can be readily varied. The House of Commons may shortly give a 25-mile limit for cars, or no limit at all, and it is in the hands of the I.,.G.B. to alter the speeds for motorbuses by Order. So far as. tramcars are concerned, the Commissioner's plan is unworkable : the Board of Trade's speeds are different at almost any two points, and in London they vary from four to 16 miles an hour. As regards a suitable device for cabs or omnibuses, we would refer our supporters to this journal of the 15th October last for a full description of a vehicle-speed governor which is capable : (t) of
giving audible warning when the road speed reaches a pre-determined limit ; (2) of throttling down the engine as soon as the road speed is 20 (or other) per cent, above that limit. This device can be completely enclosed and sealed : it is the design of a member of our Editorial staff, and is free to anybody, either manufacturer or owner, to apply on the lines then illustrated in detail.