Auto Gossip

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32076, 26 August 1969, Page 15

Auto Gossip

Bus drivers often have a hard time manoeuvring their large vehicles out into the stream of traffic after making a stop, and it is only fair for motorists to make it easier for them by slackening pace and letting them into the stream, where this can be done without undue inconvenience to others on the road. But courtesy must always be mixed with common sense. The other evening, for instance, I was in a line of| cars travelling behind a bus! along Colombo Street Just after crossing an intersection, the bus suddenly stopped in the middle (if the road, for no apparent reason, and the line of traffic behind it came to a sudden halt across the intersection and beyond, while the lights changed to red. It transpired that the bus driver had stopped in the middle of the road to let two other buses move away from a bus stop. He did not use the stop himself. In some circumstances the bus driver’s action might have been goqd thinking, but as it was it held up a lot of traffic, which had to come to

by

A.J.P.

a very sudden stop, and blocked an intersection for a time. And because the lights were about to change anyway, it speeded the two buses’ departure by only a | matter of seconds. Vicious Circle This sort of move by a bus driver, however well-inten-tioned, does not tend to endear bus drivers as a group to the motorists involved, and makes the motorists less likely to show courtesy to buses in the future. The same applies to bus drivers who force their way out into a stream of traffic with little regard for other vehicles. But at the same time bus drivers often end up forcing their way out because so many motorists are too discourteous to give them a fair chance in heavy traffic. It is rather a vicious circle, but then discourtesy on the road always is. Street Lighting Harking back to my Australian sojourn, one thing that is very noticeable in Australian cities is the good standard of street lighting—and the appallingly low standard of street lighting in Christchurch in comparison. Only our major thoroughfares are lit to anything like a reasonable standard: take a walk down Montreal Street some evening, for example, and you will see what I mean. In Australian cities most of the suburban streets are as well illuminated as our main routes, and in some cases are better lit Not Good Enough Our standards of streetlighting seem much too low for this day and age, and the level of street lighting must surely have an effect on road

safety, particularly when there are a lot of cyclists and pedestrians about Such “hazards” can be clearly seen on a well-lit street long before they are in the headlights, but this is certainly not the case on most ‘ Christchurch streets. A light ! on every second post on one side of the street is simply , not good enough, and that is all there is to it Both citizens ' and road-safety bodies have reason to be concerned. Insufficient Room Double-parking of trade , vehicles is often necessary to , permit them to toad and ■ unload, but there is less and i less room on our streets for i large vehicles to be doubleparked. This is particularly L the case in the new one-way .streets, where double-parking , seems to cause more of a ! hazard than elsewhere, . largely because of the faster flow of traffic. It may be a few years away, , but eventually the time must , come when the double-park-ing of trucks in the city must be banned completely during i most of the day, as is the case in other countries. Carriers and retailers would be well advised to give this prob- ■ lem plenty of thought well in t advance. It seems to me that • it is not too early to start - looking at the question now. I There is a limit to the I number of loading zones ■ which can be provided, and there is also a limit to the ■ amount of congestion and ■ added danger than doublei parked heavy vehicles can be E allowed to cause. ’ Quote Of The Week : "In the United States a i major tyre company is selling i ‘His and Hers’ tyres, ’His’ ■ have a wide, bold tread; ’Her’ models have coloured studs in the tread and flowery sidewalls.”—An item in “Trans- ■ port News.”