LONDON WRITER SUGGESTS SIGNALLING SYSTEM FOR DRIVERS.

Shannon News, 7 December 1928, Page 4

LONDON WRITER SUGGESTS SIGNALLING SYSTEM FOR DRIVERS.

1 A signal system lor motorists which would warn other drivers of what to expect of any other car is suggested by a writer in “London Opinion,” who says: “ItHias. always been the habit of ships on the highways of the sea to advertise their needs and circumstances to one another by means of jolly little flags of various colours and shapes. This is a decorative habit, and it has always seemed to me a pity that a wider use is not made of it ashore. Fr.om which \ point wo read on. > j

Now at last the opportunity has arrived; the crowded highways of the land are becoming even more crowded than those of the sea. -

So I suggest that in future all cars should be obliged to carry a short mast about (sft. high, on the offside, wheiv it can be most conveniently manipulated by the driver, and from this mast signal hoists, roughly corresponding to those m use at sea, should be flown.

Such a regulation would not only make for brighter motoring, but it would enormously, increase the factor of safety. Let me give a few examples of the sort of signals which might figure in the motorist's code book. For instance a yellow pennant might mean

This is my first car, and flown with a blue square above it, 'it.would further indicate This is my first ’ time out alone. Then other 'motorists could give it a wide berth on the starboard side when ■passing it. On the other hand, a black flag bearing a skull and cross-bones would signify

I race at Brooklands, and other drivers would be saved the trouble, of trying to overtake it. A red flag with a black centre would mean ; • .■••nfclgMfSl.

My brakes won’t work. If flown with a green one, with.zigzag lines, it would mean < My steering is uncertain.

The man who is liable at any mo•nent tb stop in the middle of the road and got inadvertently, into reverse could be marked with a large red spot on a plain ground, while the. habitual cuttcr-in , might be indicated by a pennant of red, white and blue chequers. The yellow flag of quarantine might stand for I am slightly intoxicated, and the black pennant with a yellow border for , ’ ♦' I usually stall my engirm when I slow down. Signals of distress would bo equally useful ,ranging from “I have no gas" to “my back axle has dropped off”; mutiny in the back seats might also be suitably indicated. There, is one other signal I have not mentioned —a large square flag of vivid red; this should certainly be reserved for. My wife is drivingl . —lt is a bright idea. Our big Arterial broads are always monotonous at the present time, but if each car were to carry appropriate bunting they would-look like Kew Gardens in tulip tfme. JX is well worth considering. ,