AUCKLAND TRAFFIC SPEED

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22210, 10 September 1935, Page 13

AUCKLAND TRAFFIC SPEED

Sir, —As a newcomer to New Zealand and a motorist of 20 years' experience, I am amazed at the speed of the traffic in Auckland. I have been in eight countries, but do not know of one where such reckless driving would bo tolerated. Very rightly ono must not pass a stationary train, yet, unless you wish to stop every few hundred yards and be cut in upon every moment, you must pass it between stops. To do this necessitates a speed of 35 or 40 miles an hour in outlying streets, and often 30 in Queen Street. While doing this it is not at all unusual to see the driver of a car parked on your left suddenly extend a hand and pull out into the traffic stream, or even turn round, giving , v 0" perhaps two seconds to realise his intention. As for "the man on the right," he has no qualms whatever about comipg out of a side street at whatever speed his car is capable of. Then there is tho errand boy on bicycle, who alternatively brushes by with two inches to spare or props himself against your running board during a traffic stop. These excitements, coupled with watching for the traffic warden, who is usually hidden bv a crowd on an island as you approach, aro sufficient to cause "nerves" in any but a New Zealander. One wonders if it would imperil the prosperity and activity of the city to any great extent if the speed of trams and the motor traffic was reduced to a safe figure. J.W.B.