A DEAD LETTER

Evening Post, Volume 65, Issue 65, 17 March 1924, Page 7

A DEAD LETTER

THE KEEP-TO-THE-LEFT RULE

WELLINGTON'S CASUAL FOOTPATH PRACTICE

lor all practical purposes the ':Keep-to-t!i-Left" e footpath rule, brought in by the City Council in December is a dead letter and Wellington walks very mudi' as Wellington walked under the old rule, that is, not according to any rule at all; On an average day in an average street the balance between "lefters" and righters" is just about even ami when up-and-down footpath traffic is occasionally drafted out by a constable the relief to the indignation of the few consistent lefters, that those who walk, to the light are apt to become indignant also, and to blame those who recogmso the rule—is very fleeting, for the muddle is as bad as ever ten yards behind his back. White pavement'lines • have been tramped out long ago, and' "Keep-to-the-Left" post signs are as if they were invisible, danger red let-' tering on a white ground notwithstanding. Again, when the new rule was brought in an inferred promise was given that a definite effort would ba made to enforce an old rule, that in regard.to .the prohibition of standing on kerbstones at street intersections, . but that effort was never ■particularly noticeable, and has long since been forgotten altogether. The "move on" rule is in much the same position. ■• Neither footpath lines nor danger red signs are of much avail in guiding pedestrians for so long accustomed to careless footpath practice, but results ma'v rightly be expected to follow upon a regular and more lively patrol than exists _at present. In no other city py town m New Zealand is the need of "sensible conformity with footpath rules more necessary than in Wellington a city unfortunately not exactly blessed with ample pavement space, yet the efforts made by the corporation, apart irom the posting up of signs, are scarcely to be noticed. The difficulty, apparently, is■thaUthV officers of the Traffic Department are fully occupied i n ether duties, but perhaps a grand onslaught on those who consistently break the rules once or twice- a week for a few weeks would ca)l some attention to the facts' that thp ' footpath rule to-day is '"Keep to the Left," also that there is... another■ ..sensible enough rule which forbids -the holding of- family gatherings or half-' hour conversations in the middle of tlio footpath in Willis street or Lumbton quay, and that casual standing on the corner of the street, naturally enough annoying to those who have* other business than to watch the cars go by, is equally against the city by-laws. The manner in which Courtenay place is rendered dangerous by the parking of tramcars on loop lines, just at the time when vehicular and pedestrian traffic is heaviest, and the need of a traffic officer or constable on point duty at that particularly busy intersection all day, and not merely' at certain hours, might very well be "inquired into -when the general question of footpath rules is being discussed. : There is an interesting point, in regard to tiie patrolling of city streets and footpaths, in that, on the strict wording of •in agreement drawn up between the Corporation and the Police Department m March, 1913, the police are to carry out certain patrol duties, of which footpath traffic management and point dutyare, two, without assistance from the Corporation's traffic officers, the Corporation paying a sum of £500 annually as recompense to the Department. If that agreement holds in full force ioday it would -appeal- that the Police Department has the right to object to any Corporation officer taking part in street traffic management, a right which would not, of course, be insisted npon in tha ordinary run of city affairs. , Under the 191 a agreement the amount of tin Corporation's annual payment to thi. Department is specially set out, and' I quite as plainly the number ■ot constables on regular point duty—one at btewart Dawson's corner, one at the Manners-Willis street corner, and one at the intersection of Manners and Cuba streets—is stated as agreed upon. The volume of city traffic has increased enormously since 1913, and the traffic moreover has changed markedly in nature, tending always to greater speed as the motor displaces the horse, and I point must be reached, if it has not already been reached some months or years ago, when three constables on , point duty cannot attend to the safety of street users as should be done and when also the 1913 agreement hetweeri bXS und t Ef? must oe Drought up to date in other respects as well. That the Department re! oogmses the need for stricVtraffic control at Courtenay place is shown, by the iaefc that constables are detailed for that duty at certain hours, though the oiit-of, date agreement makes no mention of Courtenay place.