NEW YORK TRAFFIC.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 297, 15 December 1936, Page 18

NEW YORK TRAFFIC.

BRITISH VIEWPOINT,

HIGH STANDARD OF DRIVING. FAR AHEAD OF CAXADIAXS. I Most of what I was told about motoring in America was wrong. This realisation did not come quickly; it was gradually borne in upon me as the concrete miles blurred underwheel and as we lieu red the heart of that delightful country, the '"Middle West," writes Mr. H. E. Symons, in the "Auto Car," London. Eighty-four of us went on the first Junior Car Club Pally to the U.S.A. and Canada, taking with us 28 British cars and four "foreigners." What happened to all of us, and our impres- j sions of motoring in America and Canada are all pretty much the same. First, Xew York. Out of the spotless three-deck garage of the Queen Mary our ears were unloaded on to American soil. Looking over the rails we saw a dockside that might have been Liverpool, dreary and grimy. Then suddenly we raised our eyes to the incredible Xew York skyline, an untidy, heterogeneous collection of skyscrapers of all shapes and sizes, towering Babel-like towards the sky. They are not disposed in rows, but break out sporadically in various parts of the city. Below us on the quayside we saw what appeared to be a Continental conconrs d'elcgance in full swing. But waiting for the traffic lights to go to green. The Xew York taxi is an extraordinary vehicle. Generally a sixcylinder saloon of 25 h.p. rating or thereabouts, it is invariably painted a startling colour. Pale mauve, sky blue, pink, a hot yellow, or banded with black-and-white cheek, it bears huge advertisements on its doors and the roof carries at least three large illuminated signs. At night it presents a "ginpalace" appearance. Simplified Traffic Control. Compared to the taxis, owner-driven cars are drab and uninteresting. They I are parked in dreary rows along the kerb, dirty and uneared for. Even on Fifth Avenue I saw only a few decentlooking cars, for the "smart set" had fled at the first sign of a heat-wave and was holidaying in Florida or the Rockies. 1 Traffic control is much simplified by the rectilinear plan of the city. Tremendous stretches of road are given the "all clear" simultaneously and the taxis, governed down to 40 m.p.h., shoot forward in regular waves as the lights change, with no intermediate amber, from red to green. The standardised performance of American cars eliminate overtaking and facilitates control. The Xew York traffic lights are set for 25 m.p.h. and filtering to the right against the red light is allowed. Driving in Xew York is easy, far easier than in London or Paris. Driving fifteen miles out of town with the J.C.C.'s general secretary, to take a letter to Mayor la Guardia, we had our first experience of a Xew York "traffic cop." Our little deputation travelled in two Rolls-Royces—both ears taking part in the tour —and we tore up Fifth Avenue with the policeman's syren wailing ahead. We seldom dropped below 50 m.p.h. and ignored all traffic lights. Cross-traffic jerked to a standstill and vehicles we overtook swerved violently kerbwards exactly as if we had been fire-engines. It was 85 in the shade while we were in Xew York, but this was quite bearable. We left the city with a police escort to show us tile way to the Xew Jersey tunnel, but half the party got lost in the first few minutes and there was a lot of delay while the motor cycle police went of! to find the lost sheep. The tunnel itself is, of course, a wonderful pioneer effort. But it is dark, dirtv and narrow when compared i with the beautiful Mersey tunnel, England. The police dashed through it at a maintained 70 m.p.h. — just double the compulsory minimum speed! Lorries at a Steady 60. For the first 30 miles of the route to Washington men were working on the road, a really magnificent two-track I highway with a grass dividing strip and concrete kerbs. In spite of a 45 m.p.h. general speed limit the traffic, lorries included, was travelling at a steady 00 m.p.h. An amazing average could be kept up. and there was practically no ovcrta king. After a while, however, we got on to typical sections of "U. 5.1," tile Washington Road. It had a good concrete surface, but was disappointingly narrow. There was only just room for two lorries to pass and there was a nasty drop each side of the concrete on to the "soft shoulders," as the treacherous earth or sand verges are called. Two wheels over the edge—there is no kerb —and a nasty crash might easily result. With a few exceptions near the big cities, where there were splendid flyover junctions and roundabouts, the roads we traversed were on the whole much narrower than in England, and the super-elevation on corners was only very slight—if, indeed, there was any banking at all. The standard of driving was exceedingly high. Although the I traffic kept going steadily at 55 to (i 0 m.p.h., it clung to its own side of the road, and I did not see a single case of overtaking on corners or on the dangerous blind hill-crests with which American highways abound. The American driver gives practically no signals, and the direction indicators on our car were considered a huge joke. If a driver is turning right lie hugs the kerb, and if making a left turn he slows gradually with his offside (left in the United States) wheels on the white line. You then take it for granted that you can overtake him on his near side. In nine eases out of ten he will give no signal. Little Use of Horn. What I admired about the American driver was the beautiful certainty ol' his movements. He never dilly-dallies or hesitates, but goes right ahead with what he wants to do. The horn is very seldom used, even when overtaking, and there are "Stop" signs, corresponding to the English "Halt at Major Eoad Ahead," at nearly all crossroads where there are no lights. 11l Canada the roads were wider and incredibly fast. Despite the 35 m.p.h. speed limit imposed in open country in Ontario Province, I am afraid that a third of the party cruised at 80 m.p.h. for hours on end. But as we neared Niagara Falls British characteristics began to be noticeable amongst the motorists we met. They drove in the middle of the road, they ambled along at 20 m.p.h., they emerged suddenly and alarmingly from minor roads. Though it pains me to write it, the Canadian drivers fall a long way short of those in the United States. •