TRAFFIC PROBLEMS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 307, 28 December 1935, Page 6

TRAFFIC PROBLEMS.

CARS AND THE STREETS.

A PEDESTRIAN'S PROTEST,

Mr. F. Bartram, in. a letter- to- iC> editor, writes:-— , ;.;'?.;™-

Someone has written that "Fai4 w > ' given to man to , lengthen out V reason." I have an abundance'of faiiT in our City Council and the -desire S"' • the ability of its members to reiXv civic service. But at times I wonder"'" my faith seems to clash with my,reason Streets are made for the use of trians and for moving traffic; and aw'' not elongated garages for the 'parkin! of motor vehicles of all descriptions np : continued and increased practice of parking motor cars, etc., alongside thl side walks of our main shopping Centre is a very grave reflection upon our civic management. It is just 12 months' am last Christmas Eve that owin" to th practice of car parking an indivlduaVran ' on,the footpath in Karangahape Road ' ' quite accidentally of course, killing and maiming innocent shoppers. One would have thought that our- City lather? would have done something to prevenl such a happening in future at'any: time >' Instead of that, however, they have. ■ intensified.the danger by allowing stlf] more cars to be parked, .sideways on. * I was pleased to read in yesterday's issue of the "Star" your account of the pedestrians' paradise in Queen Street on • Christmas Eve. Why not save'poor : "motor drivers from turning grey)' and pedestrians from being killed by making the free-from-traffic paradise, in Queen Street a permanent one? In any' Vase the dangers and problems of transport in motion are increasingly numerous and varied enough, without making {hem worse by narrowing the highway byparking cars and leaving unfortunate pedestrians to play hide rnd seek amongst them in their endeavours to cross the road and avoid the moving traffic. s

We have just experienced a so-called Safety Campaign. The. praiseworthy desire of his Worship the Mayor and his colleagues to minimise the clanger to life attendant upon motor •traffic is commendable. Whether the method adopted is likely to be of much use is opentp question. ■•■ x

Toster displays drawing e. ttention to dangers are all very well; hut surely the better plan would be to get rid of as many of the known dangers, as possible. The poster paid for by the Transport Board reminding the public that a cat has nine lives (a fallacy by the way) and that a human being has only one, displayed on a motor, lorry perhaps driven by ah individual'who is a menace to every living creature, who has perforce to dodge him, is apt to cause resentment, just as the 'Til be a good boy and drive safely" sort of notice, upsets the bile of some motor drivers.

A few months ago, early one morning, in the road in front of my home/ I picked up the remains of a favourite eat. He had evidently been run over. On October 31, passing from the footpath to a safety (?) zone, I got smacked out by a motor cycle. My cat, in spite of its nine lives, is dead; I am alive. "Hence these tears." In my opinion it would be far more in the interests of the public safety, if instead of issuing posters concerning the alleged nine lives. ' of a cat, the powers "-that be go't dowa : -v_ to serious business and got rid of tHenine and more, danger zones and death, traps in and around the City of Auckf land. The danger of .the safety zones mands immediate attention. At present '■' the so-called safety zones are simply • death traps —all danjgerou3,soineniojfe6o .. than others. A place where you are safe> ; when you get there is-:a very, nrie idea. ' Getting there is the trouble. 'Enconra.-;> ging people to" a safety'zone a few feet from the footpath, and then allowing"-: a constant stream of motor traffic; to, run between,-is, to put it mildly, sheer stupidity." Where there isi;no safety zone, when a tram stops, the traffic is held up automatically while th'e paST, sengers alight or. embark, and get to safety. Not so, however, where there is a safety zone. There may he.two or three trains waiting, with intending passengers on the footpath, especially when it is raining, wanting to catch them, who can only do so at the risk of their lives because of the stream of traffic.

Such a state of affairs makes one think that safety zones are erected, not for the safety of pedestrians, but for the convenience and uninterrupted joy of motor drivers. Indeed, according to a letter I have before me signed by the town clerk, this is the true position. Mr. Brigham states that "the object of the safety zone is to facilitate traffic and at the same time offer some protection for intending tram passengers. The present bv-law prohibits drivers from stopping within 26ft from the end, of safety zones."

I say again that under such conditions safetv zones are death traps. The courteous letter of the town clerk .was to advise me that the City Council in its wisdom had turned down a suggestion of. mine "that the by-law be amended to require drivers to stop their vehicles when passengers are embarkm on or aliglitinc from tramcars. j' ie _ reason given for this decision was P» while the suggestion could be applied at safetv zones in the less frequented streets, 'it would be impracticable to enforce such restrictions in Q ueel » Street."

All I have to say is that if '* " impracticable to regulate the motor traffic in Queen Street to safeguarding lives of the citizens of Auckland, then motor traffic must go out of Q" cen Street.