TRAFFIC DANGERS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21602, 24 March 1932, Page 12

TRAFFIC DANGERS

TO THE EDITOR.

Sir, —In the course of a few -weeks winter will be here, and in the interests of public safety I would like to call the attention of our traffic inspectors to a few matters in which they might interest themselves besides timing stationary motor cars and other trivialities. I am a regular user of the footpath on the harbour side of the Anderson’s Bay road, which some cyclists seem to claim as a speedway reserved exclusively for themselves. Last winter it w'as a common occurrence to see young men scorching along that footway after sundown, with no light on their machines, in utter heedlessness whether anyone might be in their way. On more than one occasion I had a narrow escape of being run down by a cyclist coming in an opposite direction to myself, not even a flicker of light giving an indication of his approach. Walking one evening from

Oxford street to M'Bride street, between 5.30 and 5.45, I counted no fewer than 15 cyclists without lights on the footpath. This is a menace that should be attended to ere something serious happens. I understand that there is a by-law compelling all cycles to be equipped with a bell and a red reflector at the rear. If this by-law were enforced I feel there would be a boom in the sales of these conypodities. True, some cycles carry reflectors, but they are, in many instances, placed in a position where they are not seen unless one is close up to them. Another road danger I would call attention to is that of some motorists who dash along the roads showing only one headlight. Is it not compulsory that they should have two? I know these people are difficult to get hold of, but surely public safety demands that they should be taught to observe the law. Again, the City Council lately promulgated a by-law affecting motor traffic in certain parts of the main city streets on Friday evenings, wdiich was a step in the right direction. The council might with advantage go a little further and pay some attention to the traffic at the so-called safety zone at the Exchange. At certain periods of the day it is a positive danger to cross from the footpath to the safety zone because of motor vans and cars careering along the roadway at this spot. I am not reflecting in the slightest on the work of the constables who direct the traffic at the Cargill Monument; they cannot be expected to do more than thev are doing, and the fact that that locality is so free from mishaps is a standing tribute to the efficiency of their efforts. Ido feel, however, that something effective could be done to safeguard the lives and limbs of those who. desire to use the tramcars at the Exchange. Would it not be possible, at rush hours, to divert all motor traffic going southwards into Bond or Crawford streets instead of allowing it to traverse such a busy locality as that opposite the Exchange? Having an intimate acquaintance with many large cities in Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand, I must sorrowfully admit that in no place have I seen the traffic by-laws so flouted as they are in Dunedin, and I respectfully submit that it is up to the City Council to remedy this state of affairs. —I am, etc., Sandy.