THE MOTOR TRAFFIC.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 166, 13 January 1914, Page 4

THE MOTOR TRAFFIC.

We hope tlic Xew J'irDnniLh lioroucli Council will, it it ban not alrcu-dy done so. take Kte|K to have included ill the by-laws about to lie introduced, provision for the limiting of the speed of motor vehicles ami bicycle* within the The average motorist who 11.41 s our inn in thoroughfare-, was never noted for tlic moderateness of his speed or tor any marked consideration for the rights of other users of the streets. Rather the other way about. At one time, when his numbers were I bin, liis vagaries and unreasonableness did not ma Iter so much. La tidy, however, hii numbers 'have, swollen eoiMdcr.\bl\% and lite coinei|iient danger to the general public has grown proportionately. Now it is hardly sale fur an alert man to CIO:-; Lhe main «|rwt if there U a motorist; within si»lit. The motor cyclist, is the chief otlender. lie is tin' personliealion of rurklcs-.iie.si and callou-ncss. lie ha-i cousideraliuu for nobody, lie simp! tears through the town as it his lite <lcpends upon reaching his destination in tlyiu;; machine tir.:e. That there is i»,t a hj<r«cr list of casualties to his discredit is certainly not his fault. These irrosponsihlcs should be taught to respect the lights of others, and made to travel a: a reasonable .speed through the town, lu Kii"lish town*, hie- and small, motor-i-ls are prohibited from Iravelling at a speed greater than ten miles an hour," 1 and it seems to us that the local bor"UJfh mi-lit with advantage adopt this "laudal'd. Some years a proposal was made to limit the speed of motors "'ben im<:otia!in<; corners to something like four miles an hour, but it was shown that it was impracticable for motors to travel at. so limit ml a speed, but ten miles an hour in a town is quite a reasonable speed. It is a. "safe" speed so far as the public arc concerned, and their interests are, or should be, paramount. At present the safety of the public is daiily menaced, anil the wonder to us is thai, the number of accidents i- not greater than it

is. This i~ .i rendition of things that sli.'.ild i,dt 1),- tolerated. The Borough Council lias in this mailer a duty to perform to the public, and we hope it ivill not shirk it any longerAnother point: in other town* motors and moior cyc''sts arc obliged to use silencers on their machines when travursmg si reels. Why not enforce this in New I'lynuiiiUc; The chief concern o f I'hc average motorist at present, apparently, is t<- g- t the maximum speed out ofhis machine, and he will not use the silein-cr, even if lie is equipped with one, Ik'i'.uisc ihat would check his progress somewhat. J'ut there is no reason why the general public should lie olfi. : ged to jint up with the very disturbing and i■bjcetionablc noises emitted when there is an easy way of overcoming' them. These little mutters are worthy of the urgent consideration of our civic fin hers.