Pedestrian Crossings In Levin Not As Safe As Users Imagine

Chronicle (Levin), 19 July 1949, Page 4

Pedestrian Crossings In Levin Not As Safe As Users Imagine

Pedestrians who use the authorised street. crossings in Levin at night would not set out so confidently had ihpy listened to a talk by Mr. B. C. Campbell, assistant traffic engineer for the Trapsport Department, to members oi the Levin Borough Council last night. -

Mr. Campbell said that in company with .the district transport officer. Mr. W. Boyes, he had carried out a tes.t of Levin's pedesLrian crossings in. regard to their visibility.

In average eonditions, he, said, a motorist travelling at 30 m.p.h. took 100 feet in which to stop his vehicie .after seeing danger. That was, of ' course, pr oviding that he was alert and right on the job. The majority of drivers, howpver, were not keyed up all the tiirie and particulariy on straight roads their. minds wandered to a m.ultitude of' casual and domestic matters. Under vhose eonditions it took the average motorist 160 feet in which to stop. With these figures in mind, here ,was what he found in Levin ana what. he considered would be a. stranger's reaction to local pedestrian crossings. • The crossing at the railway station, when approached from the south, was, recognisable as such at a distance of 35 feet. • The crossing at the Primary School — 35 feet. • The crossing at the Regent Theatre — 35 feet. • The crossing at the Post Office — 25 feet. • The crossing at Queen Street — 10 feet.

It could be seen from those figures, said. Mr. Campbell, that' tne pedestrian did not have the protection he thought he had, even though the Levin crossings were" maintained at a high standard from hls 'observatipns.. His, experiments had been made with a full headlight beam, which showed that the paint used was the cause of the trouble. Of c.ourse, the pedestrian would have the consok-tion pf at least knowing that hi'i sorrowing rela'tives had a good case at law, and the motorist was just unfortunate hitting an invisible person on an invisible pedestrian crossing. In view of this position, his recommendation to the council would be to dispense with the crossing at the -railway statioh, as he thought the number using it was insufficient to warrant it and motorists did not expect to find one there. He would also recommend that the remaining crossings be painted with reflectorised paint and also that a diamond sign be painted on the road in advance of the crossings. This sign had not been legalised yet, but he anticipated that it would be.

Astounding Difference. Mr. Campbell then demonstrated to the council the differen'ce in the two types of paint by placing spec'ially painted cards on the council table, extinguishing the lights and throwing a torch beam on the two cards from the extreme end of the room. The difference between the reflectorised paint and thetqrdinary paint astounded all present, and- it was unanimously agree'd that the former was considerably superior. « The officer explained that the reflection was obtained by adding glass beads of varying sizes to the paint. It really looked like sugaf. Tests had shown that the- paint with the- glass beads showed up twice the distance than the one without. It had been adopted to" a large extent in America, and California had 12,000 miles of it lai'd down. Asked by the borough overseer, Mr. E. Lycette, if the cat's eye re-

flectorsvwere , being! considered by the ^ department, the officer said that these were undoubtedly beuter but;. far more cost y. The refiector st'uds cust £1 each ,and had to be piaced 14 inches apart. It was 80 feet across Oxford Street, which meanfc 140 studs per crossing and aceordingly £140. There was one 1 r^r-i_j-i_ri_rx_ri_r

town in New Zealand which had put 'them in on a large scale, but he thought that it would be too costiy for Levin. Cr. R. A. Frederikson then asked if the speaker thought that the crossing by the theatre should be removed to the Oxford Street-Bath •Street intersection. That was purely a problem which the council would have to decide upon, said Mr. Campbell. On general principles it was preferable to have a crossing at an intersection, as traffic normally, slowed down there in any case and it was used by a greater number of people. He thought that the council shomd take a tally of the number of people using the crossing first as it was not always wise to move a crossing after the people and motorists had got used to it.

Review Decided On. Mr. Boyes said that from his observations that was the case. The picture theatre naturally was a focal point for many people, and even if shifted they would still cross there. Cr. A. W. Barton said that he would be opposed- to cutting out the crossing at the railway station and bglieved that all should be retained, but improved. "Ihe - council, however, decided that the whole position would be reyiewed and a decision made_at a future meeting. The Mayor, Mr. H. b! Burdekin, thanked Mr. Campbell and- Mr. Boyes for outlining the position so clearly. • Mr. Campbell was present at the meeting as a result of a circular from the Transport Department received by the council at an earlier meeting. The circular had inc'uded recommendations made to the department from the Road Safety Council and added that if the council would like further details an officer of the department would be sent to it.