“Taranaki Central Press” TUESDAY, MAY 25, 1937. ORDER OUT OF DISORDER.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 442, 25 May 1937, Page 4

“Taranaki Central Press” TUESDAY, MAY 25, 1937. ORDER OUT OF DISORDER.

The request of the Minister of Transport for a new spirit of fellowship on the road marks a new departure in the art of governing. Leaders of spiritual thought have certainly preached the brotherhood of man in season and out of season, but they have merely shared a vague evangel with every party politician in the realm, and it has remained for Mr Semple to sign-post the road m the understandable terms of goodwill and self interest. It cannot be doubted that the response to the appeal will be immediate and gratifying. The code is simple. The pedestrian is told that he must never loiter on the road; never step off the footpath without looking in both directions; that when waiting for a tram he must remain on the footpath till the tram stops; that he must never walk on the roadway if a footpath is provided, and that when crossing the road, except at a pedestrian crossing, he does so at his own risk.

The cyclist is told that he must never overtake another vehicle on the near or inner side, and that he must ride straight 1 and never negligently. The motorist is told that he must give way to every pedestrian on a marked but uncontrolled crossing, and even slow up to a walking pace ready to stop; that he must never over take a 3O feet of an intersection, and never accelerate when being over taken; that he must use the horn only when really necessary; never stop abreast of another car except in traffic, and last, but most important of all, must always give way to traffic on the right.

It is not suggested that breaches of these and dozens of other rules in the code are to go unpunished, but rather that the universal understanding of the code, as a point of honour, will so appeal to the public sense of orderliness that breaches of it will appear as an intolerable flouting of public opinion. The Minister’s logic is sound. Civic self-respect is the most powerful influence in the regulation of public life, and when it is marshalled for the common good,’ few persons will dare to fall out of step with it.