TRAFFIC ENGINEER FROM SYDNEY VISITING N.Z.

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28821, 16 February 1959, Page 10

TRAFFIC ENGINEER FROM SYDNEY VISITING N.Z.

For greater road safety, traffic laws and regulations must con* form to the mechanics of traffic movement in order to make them as self-enforcing as possible. This is the view of Professor W. R. Blunden, professor of traffic engineering at the University of New South Wales, who arrived in Christchurch yesterday to attend the annual conference of the New Zealand Institution of Engineers. Explaining how traffic laws should be related to traffic flow. Professor Blunden said that speed limits, for instance, should be based on a determination of what was the best speed in prevailing traffic conditions. The design of roads themselves, and intersection lay-out should conform also with the mechanics of traffic flow and movement. Traffic movement should be segregated into traffic lanes. General education for road safety had to be based cm traffic study and research. Professor Blunden said. Traffic engineering—the science of measuring traffic in travel, and the application of that knowledge to the professional practice of planning, designing,; and building traffic systems—was an important part of that study and research. New Zealand was well in the van of world developments on road safety. Professor Blunden thought. It had one of the lowest road accident rates in the world. “This is all’ the more commendable because you are second only to the United States and Australia in the use of motorvehicles.” Professor Blunden said. “But don’t ask me to comment on your traffic lay-outs—Fve only just arrived here and haven’t had time to find out,” he said. Professor Blunden said he

would be travelling right through New Zealand, and would "Visit and have discussions with various traffic and highway authorities. In Christchurch, he will present a paper on the movement of traffic in travel to the engineers’ conference. The chair of traffic engineering at the University of New South Wales was created two years ago, endowed by the Australian Automobile [Association. Professor Blunden' conducts two major

courses, attended by 34 students, some of whom are from New Zealand. Professor Blunden is a graduate in science and engineering of the University of Sydney and is also a graduate of the Royal Military College of Science in England. He is a member of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, the Institute of Physics, and the American Institute of Traffic Engineers. Before taking up his present appointment he was scientific adviser to the Australian Military Board, where he was concerned with operational research studies of problems of military logistics and flow.