TRAFFIC PROBLEM.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 31 March 1928, Page 15

TRAFFIC PROBLEM.

PART OF FOUE-WHEiiL BRAKES •‘Will four-wheel brakes on all motorears solve the present traffic problem which is confronting nearly every large oitv?” The question was recently propounded by an American writer, following experiments and observations covering several hours a day at the peak oi traffic. His conclusions are of interest: “.Not including taxi-cab drivers, but basing observations on ears driven either by chauffeurs or owners, it was relatively easy to see that ears equipped with l'our-wheel brakes were first awav as ‘go’ signal was Hashed, and seemed to travel greatest distance between flashes of signal lights. Ihe ooservntions were made alter a thorough study of makes and models of ears equipped with brakes on lour wheels, so that guesswork was eliminated. The apparent reason tor greater speed of these cars between signals lay in the sense of braking safety afforded the driver. Questions asked at random from a sufficiently large number of drivers revealed the answer that they usually drove at a speed inside the' safe stopping limit of thencars. In other words, a man would drive at 30 miles an hour between traffic signals if he ielt sure that at this speed he could stop his car within the distance separating him from the car ahead. Eliminating the personal equation of relatively slow and relatively fast drivers, and basing deductions on an average, it appeared that the average driver would make better time if he were using a ear with four-wheel brakes.”