QUESTION OF SAFE NIGHT SPEED

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 255, 24 July 1936, Page 17

QUESTION OF SAFE NIGHT SPEED

Thirty for Safety, Say the Scientists The maximum safe speed at which a ear ean be driven at night is 30 miles an hour. In the absence of glare from oncoming ears it can be increased to 40 miles an hour. Such are the results obtained by Warring and Moore, two scientists, who have just completed a lengthy research for the Massachusetts Highway Commission. They found out by actual experiment the greatest distance at which a person walking on the road eould be seen. They then carefully observed how the drivers reacted. There was always a lag of between half and one second during which they did nothing at all. Warring and Moore suggest that pedestrians, walking on country roads should always show an areg pf white—for instance, an handkerchief. This increases visibility by 50 per cent., while the use of three reflector buttons doubles it. The best way, however, of increasing visibility is really brilliant highway lighting, The stretch of roadway between Ville d’Avray and Versailles, in France, was recently lighted with sodium lamps. Immediately the number of accidents after dark dropped by three-quarters.