STOP AND GO

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXII, Issue 153, 14 June 1932, Page 10

STOP AND GO

LIGHT’S ON DASHBOARD. The motorist of the future will carry his own stop and go traffic lights oil the dashboard of his car, and will send forth from his horn diapasons of melody to warn the unwary pedestrian rather than shock him into spasms of fright, according to predictions made in America by Mr Orestes H. Caidwell, formerly a member of the Federal Radio Commission. Speaking before the annual meeting of the American Institute, held at the American Museum of Natural History, he predicted that these miracles of modern traffic will be accomplished through application of the radio or electronic tube. It is entirely possible, Air Caldwell said, to remove motor horn honks and squawks from the city streets, replacing their clamour with musical chords and melodies. No particular strain on the imagination is necessary to picture traffic congestion of busy corners enlivener by majestic symphonies of tone when impatient motorists sound their horns to clear the way of slower moving vehicles. The motor car driver with his own red and green lights will be relieved of the strain of peering ahead for overhead traffic signals. He will simply have the responsibility of watching his own dashboard and act accordingly. This newest use of radio or electronic tubes in traffic control will be accomplished by high frequency inductor cables laid alongside street curbs. As long as this cable is energised from traffic headquarters a detector tube on the car will keep a green lamp lighted on the dashboard.