TRAVELLING TOWERS

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 88, 5 July 1927, Page 13

TRAVELLING TOWERS

NEW TRAFFIC DEVICE The last word in traffic safety devices in America is the loud-speaking police caution car, now making Detroit motorists sit up and take care. By means of radio principles the voice of the law is so greatly amplified that, as the caution car rolls along the city’s main traffic arteries, the warnings broadcast by the traffic sergeant riding inside may be heard throughout the block. Even the- callous driver of a rumbling five-ton truck may be addressed directly, and he cannot answer back, either! The loud-speaking .apparatus as mounted on a sedan automobile. The district police department designed and installed the electrical apparatus, all of which is mounted in a special cabinet in the tonneau, with wires leading to the three loud-speaker horns on the top of the car. The main horn, a gigantic spruce arrangement, five feet long, points directly forward, and two small horns carry the sounds to the sides. The officer on duty speaks into a hand microphone, and though he talks in the natural tone of his voice, his remarks issue from the three horns in volume sufficient to “tell the world.” This travelling tower has been named the “caution car” for a double reason. Its main purpose is to instil the principles of caution in both drivers and pedestrians, and literally it cautions the motorist who is observed driving carelessly. The “jay-walker” especially is cautioned against his dangerous habits. Here is a sample of one day’s work of the caution car: Hours in service, SA; safety talks delivered, 12; warnings for defective headlights, 40; speeders, 6; dirty or defaced licence plates, 10; blocking crossways, 15; double parking, 200. The safety talks are delivered at important street intersections, and thousands of pedestrians are reached thus every day. Violations of the traffic rules are never “written up” by the crew of the car, Sergeant Rounds holding that his lessons, delivered courteously and in good spirit, are more effective than more drastic action. Here are a few of the slogans: “Watch that speedometer, son; it’s the trigger of the deadliest gun ever invented.” “Think, driver, think! The right of way doesn’t give you the right to maim.”