English Road Revolution

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIX, Issue 20105, 11 May 1935, Page 10

English Road Revolution

BOLD SCHEME THAT HAS WORKED

English motorists are being stirred to the depths by the actions of the Minister of Transport, Mr Hore Belisha, writes “Headlight” in “The Dominion.” In addition to the prohibition of horn tooting in certain areas of towns at night and the institution of pedestrian crossings (indicated by the now world famous “Belisha beacons,” yellow spheres on thin coloured poles, at which .the walker has the right of way), there has now been introduced a rule that all who in future want to drive a car must be examined, and newest of all, and apparently most annoying to the Englishman on wheels, a speed limit of 30 miles an hour in city and town streets.

The repercussions of the campaign on behalf of the pedestrian are, in some cases, unexpected. The law on the points mentioned is now somewhat similar to the law in New Zealand. Our town speed limit is 25 m.p.h. The differences are that towns occupy a much greater proportion of England than they do of New Zealand, that the roads are carrying vastly heavier traffic, and that the laws have been introduced with threats of the strictest enforcement with drastic and novel measures by the police. The pedestrian crossings and antihorn rule were accepted, although apparently with bad grace by the bulk of drivers, and the driving test seems to be regarded with good sense. (Possibly because it affects very few people directly). Periodicals now carry prominent advertisements for driving schools and articles on how to pass a driving test. Forty-five Miles at 30 M.P.H. The speed limit applies to what are called built-up areas, or to be exact, to streets where there are lamps 200 yards or less apart, but by special order it

applies to some roads which do not comply with that description and not to others that do. How drastic the rule is may be realised from the statement that on one route near Manchester, it applies for a distance of 45 miles. The methods of enforcement promised by Mr Hore Belisha were the old method of trapping by timing cars over measured stretches of roads, and the placing on the streets of innocent looking cars, vans and lorries containing policemen and policewomen in plain clothes. Cars with gongs for signalling drivers to stop and since christened “gongster cars” are being used.

On the eve of the introduction of the 30-miles an hour limit the dally newspapers printed instructions to drivers, and some statements in the press were such as to remind one of the pronouncements issued by authorities of an earthquake stricken town—“ Don’t be nervous, this is not the end of the world." The “Observer” solemnly appealed to everybody to obey the law; the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Chief Commissioner of Police (Lord Trenchard) and Mr Hore Belisha issued grave pleas. Pictures were conjured up of traffic crawling along, vehicles head to tail, and of busy business men never getting to work, and of smart, highspeed cars suffering the indignity of having to trail behind slow, rumbling lorries because they could not overtake without exceeding the limit. Little Inconvenience After the first day of the new order the newspapers were eager to announce what had happened. The dire predictions did not come true, although some of the effects seems to have been unexpected, by the public, if not by the Government. At the end of the first week the reports were the same. The rule was. observed universally, from all ' i