The Dominion. MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 1920. SAFE TRAFFIC CONTROL

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 103, 26 January 1920, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 1920. SAFE TRAFFIC CONTROL

The question of traflic control iii the city streets has boon receiving of late something like the attention it urgently demands, ami various measures of improvement have been suggested by the representatives of local authorities, motorists, and others, which seem to be worthy of adoption. One essential feature of efficient traffic regulation, however, has either been passed over lightly, or given much less prominence than it deserves. This is the comprehensive control of street traffic by a body of police reinforced to whatever extent may be necessary to ensure the efficient performance of the duties entailed. Of all the measures that can be taken to limit street dangers and reduce to a minimum the fatal and other accidents that have, been far too frequent in recent times, the strict enforcement of traffic regulations by the police is easily the most important and the most promising. It is, of course, true that r traffic dangers are heightened in "Wellington by the congestion of traffic in sonic narrow mid-city streets and in crowded intersections, but as regards the volume of traffic passing and crossing in limited areas, the worst problems to be solved locally are light in comparison with those which are solved successfully in larger centres of population. In London, and in other cities innumerable, streams of traffic vastly exceeding anything known to local experience arc efficiently controlled in narrow streets. Street improvements which would serve amongst other things to reduce traffic dangers are in themselves very desirable, but to regard them as indispensable to reasonably efficient traffic control would be to turn away from tho actual facts. The real position is, as the chairman of the City By-Laws Committee (Mil. M. Luckie) pointed out to a deputation of motorists on Friday, that the danger of serious accidents is far greater in the less congested areas of the city.

Host serious accidents (he stated) occurred in the outlying portions of the town, -and in.a great many instances tliey were duo to speeding- on Die pari: of r.iOtorisls. The tramway authorities bore '(liis out.

Anyone who is familiar with the city streets-knows that apart from the stationing of pointsmen at a few busy intersections, traffic control is hardly attempted. The pointsmen arc doing efficient work, and what is needed is a general extension of their systematic control over traffic, with, of course, such modifications as tho volume and character of traffic in each area may demand. Under a sound system, traffic over the greater part of tho city Would be controlled by policemen on their beats, but the beats would have to be much shorter than at present, and the policemen on duty considerably more numerous, in order to make the control effective. In regard to motor speeds and other matters, the local traffic regulations stand in Homo need of overhauling, but no system of_ regulation will be effective unless it is watchfully enforced at all points, and this state of affairs will best and most economically be reached by reinforcing the police to such an extent as will enable them to undertake full responsibility for traffic control. While the employment of additional police is the first and most essential step towards minimising traffic dangers, comprehensive measures arc, of course, called for in amending existing conditions, and amongst such measures the education of tho public takes an important place. The proposal put forward by some motorists that any pedestrian knocked down by a vehicle should be liable to prosecution is so far-fetched that it has only been made presumably, in the hope of diverting attention from the real problem. But a useful purpose would be served by conspicuous notices urging pedestrians to keep a good look-out, to walk straight across from pavement to pavement, and so forth. Marked spaces or platforms for people waiting for trams, and fixed crossing places where they are necessary, would also b» desirable innovations. All vehicles would naturally be required to approach such spaces, platforms, or crossings at a very slow pace, and serious clangers now existing would thus be eliminated. Approval must be given also to other ideas which are under consideration, such as the diversion of . through traffic from congested routes when a better and more open route is available. The chief point to bo emphasised, however, is that the streets of Wellington as they stand, and even without such widening and other improvements as are in contemplation, lend themselves perfectly well to conditions of traffic control in which the percentage of accidents would be very small, and that the only obvious way to introduce these conditions is to entrust the police with the same duties of traffic control as they perform in Great Britain and in other countries. It is an initial difficulty to be overcome that the Police Force is not at present readily attracting recruits, but the City Council ought to be willing to cooperate with the Government in offering such inducements as would make it passible to enlist the strength required for local traffic duties. The employment of traffic patrolmen by the city authorities has been suggested, but tins is only an alternative to be adopted as a last resort. It would make for divided control where efficient co-ordi-nation outfit to be aimed at, and would involve also a certain amount of wasteful overlapping. The organisation of the police lends itself in every way to the establishment of a systematic control oW traffic and thc'chife entailed dovetail naturally into others performed by the members of the Force. The City Council outfit to inquire fully into the possibility of securing the employment of an additional number of dulv instructed policemen on street duty before considering any alternative.