TRAFFIC CONTROL.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19675, 19 July 1929, Page 6

TRAFFIC CONTROL.

LESSONS FROM U.S.A. RESULTS AFTER YEARS OF TRIAL. Traffic control has been exercising the minds of the City Council and others interested in the problem for so long, and is still doing so. that the following article on experiences m America concerning the same question should throw some light upon it: Whether pedestrian control is the solution to one phase of the street traffic problem is a topic on which one finds great divergence of opinion, but its increasing number of adherents at once stamps it as worthy, at least, of serious consideration. By pedestrian control is meant, ot course, the placing of the same restrictions on the person walking across an intersection as are placed on the man or woman who drives a car through the intersection. Where the vehicle must halt before a stop signal, the pedestrian likewise is required in some cities to wait until the signal favours him. Observed by Public. At first glance pedestrian control may appear to be a drastic and unusual practice, an invasion of personal liberty that is unwarranted and yet where it has been put into practice this legal restriction of the movements of the man on foot has, according to police authorities, been successfully practised and conscientiously observed by the public. The reason, as some observers sec it, is that the pedestrian is more and more showing a tendency to regulate himself. He recognises that jay walking is dangerous and that street traffic falls into two main divisions each of which must make certain concessions in the interest of safety. Yields Eight-of-Way. A partial step in this direction is the largely observed rule that on some portions of a thoroughfare and under certain conditions the pedestrians shall yeld the right of way to vehicular traffic. At intersections where traffic is controlled by signals or police officers, the model municipal ordinance, formulated by the National Conference on Street. and Highway Safety for Nation-wide adoption, grants the right of way to pedestrians who are crossing or have started to cross the intersection when the signals change. Otherwise, they are required to yield to vehicles proceeding on the "go" signal. With The Traffic. Pedestrial control, however, goes beyond this determination of rights and holds that the walker must proceed onlv with traffic and not through the stream of moving vehicles. The question uppermost in the mind of the motorist who has not had personal contact with such a system is. naturally, "Has nedestrian control been effective and acceptable to the public?" ~ Mr D. J. O'Brien, chief of police of San Francisco, answers the question emphatically in the affirmative. Reduced Accidents. "Pedestrial control has been successful and has reduced traffic accidents," declared the San Francisco chief when asked for his opinion on the system which prevails in his city. The principal feature of its institution, he states, was the education of the pedestrian nublic to the new regulations. Thev have been educated to" cross with traffic on their proper "go" signal, but, he states, numerous arrests were necessary at first. And here is a significant point in the chief's statement: "There is no likelihood of this city abandoning pedestrian control." Public Were Willing. From Mr A. W. Gifford, deputy chief in charge of the traffic division of the Los Angeles police department, comes the statement: "T feel confident that the law compelling pedestrians to cross streets with the traffic has resulted in saving manv of them from injury. There were no strong objections to the regulation when it wp.s adopted." Many other "U.S. officials comment along similar lines.