LIGHTING-UP TIMES

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 96, 27 April 1929, Page 26

LIGHTING-UP TIMES

RAILWAY CROSSINGS

A STANDARD WARNING

jyO REASON FOE DELAY

■The 'new provisions governing the action;of motorists at railway crossings will probably bo welcomed in most quarters. So '-lorig^s level crossings exist the. onus is bound to rest on the road-users... of providing for their own safety. ' In -the past/ the warning, notiiies have been unsatisfactory for several reasons. The old stop board has bben quite generally disregarded, and lib'w it is to tie abolished except where a'complete stop is considered .by tho authorities to -be necessary to ensure safety.; :■ There are crossings where a view of*the line from one direction or both, is so obscured that a train may, be-actually almost on the crossing before it can bo seen, or sometimes even heard. :': Whistles are no more a real safety-guard than are motor horns, and it; is gratifying, to note that bells also are now authoritatively: regarded as unsatisfactory. It will be a welcome day -when visual danger signs—i.e., flashing lights —are universal, and no 'unnecessary delay should be., permitted iii the installation, of .these real "safety; devices.v If' standardised and made universal nothing more would.be required'and every other warning could be'removed from, the roadways. " Hitherto motorists, unfamiliar with the road they are travelling, have constantly been faced with crossing notices and-have adopted a policy of caution- when* there is no crossing to; go..over. It' is an annoying experience/ as ' .one moves forward iiv;v constant expectation of a sot of.; -'rails: Uthat- never comes. •In daylight the reasons of the notice can soon ids .seen,. but 'at night it is quite possible to pass tho byway on which the' crossing actually exists without seeing-'it, and consequently for some distance'vproceed in a state of uneasiness.' • This system—it is a foolish one—ris to be abolished. The crossing sign will. remain on the main .road, thougti \there is no crossing on that, but will'bear an intimation beneath indicating, the. direction in which the crossing: actually lies, and the main road! usbf consequently will be able to disregard it and continue on his way .withbut^reduction of speed. Once the flashing", danger lights are erected on suchl crossings, \however, there will be no trouble'either by night or. day; until this ;is;idone there will probably still be .confusion at night even with the new boards.

As regards crossings where it is con-sidered-essential to stop, these are obviously irecognised as raost dangerous, and the call for danger lights, is, .therefore,- immediate. However' desirable it; !may be to eliminate crossings by grade : separation it will probably be considered in many quarters more ur-gent-to concentrate for a time in providing these lights at as many places as, possible. Best of all would be their installation quite generally at least as far as all important roads and railway lines;.ie cpneerned, and all city crossing's.' .' -', "',.' . ' . '

• A steady red light, such for instance aB that in use on the Ricearton road, at Ghristchurch, is useless from the point ofview: of safety for those unfamiliar with:the road. The flashing lights— once"universal—wo\ild be in quite a different category. Doctors often have red lights in front of their premises, and;such a light as that at Eicearton, even though high up, can fail to warn. \The presence even of a crossingkeeper/ need not hinder the installation of lights. These lights would completely solve the problem of flags, the'"warning is unmistakable, and could not-confuse engine-drivers as any alteration of the present system of flags rday^ conceivably do. Moreover, it is no' more easy for motorists to learn a new system of flagging than it. is for them 1, to apprehend the existing one. Some people appear to drive in a con-. stant state of confusion, but with two great red lamps flashing away at them confusion is practically impossible. They" would • stop. Crossing-keepers could- have control of the lights, and oven if not, the lights could be automatically cut off thq moment the crossing was" clear as there is no problem of a single "track, such crossings being almost invariably double track lines. ■ A standardised system of warning is the/most urgent demand in regard to railway''crossings, and with electricity' now available practically all over' the Dominion, the authorities might well be- urged to press forward with the flashing-light system, an installation for-every crossing of consequence.

Sunday ........ 5.33. p.m. Monday' 5.32 p.m. Tuesday ... :...-. 5.31 p.m. Wednesday 5.29 p.m. Thursday 5.28 p.m. Friday .... ...i...... 5.27 p.m. Saturday ...,'. 5.26 p.m.