Right-Hand Rule

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30072, 5 March 1963, Page 3

Right-Hand Rule

Sir,—l would like to support your correspondent, “A Mere Woman,” in her remarks on this much-discussed rule. Even our chief traffic officer is reluctant to give a ruling when asked for one on the Harper avenue-Fen-dalton road intersection and there are many intersections like this in Christchurch. So your correspondent states a motorist has only a split second to make a decision. I cannot understand why our automobile association does not get busy on this rule, tor the sooner we get back to the odd rule of giving way to traffic on our 'right the better, for with more cars coming on the roads things are going to get worse if left as they are.—Yours, etc., S. W. BTCKMOTT. March 4, 1963.

Sir,—lt is with great relief that I notice the interest in absolute right-of-way. Failing an absolute rule, there seems to be a need for extrasensory perception at every cross-road—-to know what is in the “mind” of the person on your right, whose intentions you cannot “see.” Because of the layout of the streets in Christchurch, cars parked near intersections and reducing visibility, and bicycles, one can understand a radio speaker who said recently: "If you can drive in Christchurch you can drive anywhere else in the world.” I can’t claim such wide experience but I do know that driving in a city of over two million, where absolute right-of-way is observed, isn’t nearly as hazardous or ulcer-forming.— Youira, etc., BXR. March, 4, 1903.

Sir,—There are, one believes, half a million or more owners of motor-vehicles in this country; quite a considerable body of opinion entitled to be consulted on a controversial subject as the absolute right-hand rule. It is not at all clear, however, what steps have been taken, for instance, by the various unions, to find out what the majority of their members think about this. It would obviously be impracticable to circularise every individual member, but one would have thought that some sort of Gallup poll on a limited, proportional basis would give a fairly reliable indication of what the feeling is. Jt is difficult to see how any motor union, without some circumstantial evidence of this nature, can put forward a really convincing case either for or against the introduction of the absolute righthand rule.—Youra, etc., ILAM. March 4, 1963.