WARNINGS OF NO AVAIL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19098, 17 June 1930, Page 1

WARNINGS OF NO AVAIL.

The institution of the compulsory stops at certain crossings is not a solution of the difficulty, according to the motorists, one of whom stated that the subsequent starting off in low 7 gear left the machine longer on the dangerous crossing than would be the case if the motorists merely slowed up, saw that the line was clear, and then accelerated to cross. Another view was that motorists generally were taking many foolish risks, that the whole business of motor traffic was getting out of hand, and that the only way in which it would be remedied was by having the police patrol country roads in search of speedsters. Automatic gates on the crossings were suggested, but arguments against these were that it would involve the country in too much expense, and that motorists would growl at the delay. Elimination of all level crossings would, it is roughly estimated, cost up to £10,000,000, and the installation of flashing signals would cost about £670,000, with an annual bill of some £70,000 for maintenance. There are, however, stated to be many crossings which present such good visibility that anything more than a warning notice would never be justified. The Hon W. B. Taverner recently replied to criticisms regarding the institution of the compulsory stop signs at crossings. He said that prior to 1928 it had been customary to erect notices: “Stop. Look out for the engine.” It was placing a very great tax on human nature to require a motorist to stop at such crossings. Accordingly the railway and motoring authorities were consulted, and they approved of the scheme of having compulsory stops at the more dangerous crossings, the care to be exercised by the motorist at other crossings to be left to the discretion of the motor driver. Round the city of Christchurch, there are approximately a dozen level crossings, and in the five months of the year that have elapsed, accidents have occurred at the Sockburn, Bryndwr, Hornby, Waltham, Alliance Street, Matipo Street and Colombo Street crossings. Not only have road users been the victims of these accidents, but in three cases railway officers have been either killed or injured. The train driver was killed at Sockburn last night, a crossing keeper was killed at Waltham Road, and a crossing-keeper was injured at Colombo Street.

DEATH ROLL IS OVER ONE HUNDRED.

FEW CROSSINGS HAVE ANY WARNING DEVICES. The huge increase in the number of casualties through level crossing accidents in the past ten years can be seen from the following table:—

Fewer than 100 of the 2651 level crossings in New Zealand are equipped with signal devices. Of these 54 have warning bells, 33 have wig-wag signals, and six have automatic flashing lights. “ TERRIBLE PLACE ” IS VIEW OF CITY MAN. MANY LIGHTS ARE DECEPTIVE AT NIGHT. “ Coming into town from the country on Sunday night,” said a Christchurch motorist this morning, “ I came on that crossing just at the time that a car with powerful headlights was coming from the road that runs parallel to the line on the right. With his lights shining, the lights in the crossing keeper’s box, and the train signal lights a little further towards Christchurch, I didn’t know what was happening. Even though it was a Sunday night I clapped my brakes on and stopped to see what the position really was. It is a terribly dangerous crossing, and I can well understand that the driver in the accident became bewildered.” TOO DANGEROUS, DECLARE FARMERS. GREATER PRECAUTIONS NEEDED AT CROSSINGS. WELLINGTON, June 16. “ That in view of the feicre&sing number of level crossing fatalities, the Railway Department be urged to expedite the adoption at all level crossings of the most up-to-date methods of preventing accidents.” This remit from the Auckland branch was discussed by the Dominion executive of the Farmers’ Union at its meeting and unanimously approved. Mr O. P. Lynch (Manawatu) said that on a previous occasion he had suggested that the Department should arrange to put up prominent warnings on the railway lines a quarter of a mile from either side of crossings and that it should be an offence for any driver to approach a crossing without whistling. The Department put up plenty of notices warning the general public, but it should put up more notices warning its own men. Mr W. Morrison (Wanganui) drew attention to what the Highways Board and the Public Works Department had done. They were getting together and had requested the county councils to supply lists of crossings in their counties in order of danger. The motion was carried unanimously. MOTORISTS NEED MORE PROTECTION. RAILWAY DEPARTMENT NOT DOING ENOUGH. The “Star’s” motor editor says:—Despite crossing-keepers, warning signals, bells and the like, level crossings continue to take their toll of life. In and around the city are railway crossings which, while they appear to be perfectly safe, hold a hidden menace to the motoring community. The latest evidence of the frightfulness of a collision between car and locomotive brings home with terrible force the need for a new system of prevention of these disasters.

Some of Canterbury’s most dangerous crossings lie within easy reach of the city with its ever growing motor traffic. What will happen, motorists ask, in two or three years’ time if these tragedies are allowed to recur? Waltham Road, guarded by its crossing-keeper aryl signals, could not prevent a double tragedy. Strowan Road has claimed its toll. At Alliance Street a girl was killed. Matipo Street, despite the existence of a wig-wag signal and a warning bell, was the scene of another fatality. Hornby has taken a terrible levy from the motoring public. Wilson’s Road, too, has added to the death roll of the killed.

Many Grave Dangers. At Middleton there is perhaps one of the most dangerous crossings of them all. It, too, has seen disasters, and despite the heavy shunting traffic the Railway Department sees fit to erect nothing but a compulsory stop sign. The Styx crossing, a comparatively clear one, has had a fatality despite a light signal. A man was killed on the Glandovey Road crossing, where it is impossible to see trains coming until too late.

Further out, there are Rolleston and Dunsandel, where accidents have occurred. At Little River there is a bad crossing, the main road turning in an obscured S bend. At Ladbrooks there is another crossing which some day is sure to claim its toll. • Others equally dangerous are Selwyn Street, where trains coming from Christchurch are obscured from motorists travelling from Moorhouse Avenue. Bligh’s Road, Papanui, is dangerous and partially obscured. A compulsory stop sign is erected there, but is that protection? Garland’s Road, Opawa, has a dangerous crossing.

Re-organise the Keeper System. Crossing-keepers are not a protection. This is evidenced by the fact that accidents have happened at such crossings. Why is that? Some of the reasons advanced are that the crossings are dark and when the keeper’s back

is towards the motorists the driver cannot see the man at all. It has been suggested that where keepers are on duty, brilliant floodlights should light the crossing and so bring him into plain view of everyone. Only good brakes have saved many a crossing-keeper from being killed by a motor-car when he has been returning to his hut. The crossing-keeper himself is responsible for a great deal of confusion. When the train is some distance away he waves his lamp towards the motorist beckoning them on. When the train is on the crossing or is within easy distance he also waves his lamp in line with the rails, to keep the cars back.

At night this signal can be easily misconstrued and the drivers thinking they have right-of-way proceed.

And when a train has gone through some keepers stand without giving any signal and the traffic thinking all is clear proceed only to be caught by a train in the opposite direction. The showing of a green light to motorists as a signal to motorists is claimed to dangerous. Why is the system of signals throughout the world for danger and safety reversed in the case C'f level crossings?. Red For Danger. Red stands for danger and green for safety and since it is the motorist that needs the signal the proper system should be observed.

The Railway Department states that it would cause confusion to the train drivers. A suggestion from a very prominent motorist is that the warning signal for cars should be a shade of purple, between blue and red and similar to the lights in use of some push-cycles. This colour is so striking, it is claimed, that it will pierce the gloom of fog or rain. On the other hand it could not be confused with the existing signals. Since this seems a reasonable and useful change why does not the Railway Department adopt it? One more cause for criticism of the Railway Department’s method is that after the train service has ceased the signals on the lines crossed by trains are put up to the “ against ” position and the lights extinguished. The crossing keepers, too, are off duty. The bells, it is true, still work, but since it is a well-known fact that they seldom make enough noise to draw attention they are useless. Very little traffic is about, but the streets are seldom free from motor-cars, and the chance of an accident is left open. At Addington considerable shunting goes on at night and although the Railway Department’s own regulations say that a train shunting or travelling across such a crossing must be piloted, this is seldom observed. Therefore it will be seen that the system of protection at level crossings is sadly at fault and the matter should be given the most serious consideration by Parliament. The trouble seems to be that the Railway Department, being a State organisation, escapes a great deal of its responsibility in this matter. The question of cost has been quoted by the Railway Department as the biggest drawback to making level crossings safe, and yet last night cix lives were lost. PROBLEM ENTIRELY URGENT, SAYS MAYOR. DECLARES IT MUST BE DEALT WITH SERIOUSLY ‘‘lt is quite obvious that the question of the elimination of level railway crossings has to be tackled, and while, of course, it can’t be dealt with under the influence of panic, it must be taken seriously in hand.”

This statement was made to a reporter this morning by the Mayor (the Rev J. K. Archer), when asked for his views concerning the growing menace to life of the level railw’ay crossings. The Mayor said that so far as the city itself was concerned, and also its immediate surroundings, the matter was entirely urgent. “There has been talk for a long time,” he added, “about doing something at Colombo Street and Waltham Road, but so far nothing practical has eventuated.

“I do not wish in any way ot embarrass the Government or the Railway Department, but it is time that effective steps were taken. So far as level crossings in the country districts are concerned, it has often occurred to me when motoring that in many cases, altogether apart from putting up overhead bridges or constructing subways, the approaches can be very greatly improved. Probably this would necessitate arrangements being made with private owners of land, but such arrangements ought to be made because in some instances the railway line is virtually .invisible until one is quite close to it.

“Of course I recognise that the whole problem is a huge one, but it is one that must be tackled,” the Mayor concluded.

PRESENT SYSTEM HAS BAD FEATURES

OPINION FAVOURS IMPORTANT CHANGES.

A general opinion in favour of the abolition of at least the busier railway crossings, provided it were an economically sound proposition, was expressed by prominent business and professional men interviewed by a “Star” representative to-day. Without exception those who were interviewed condemned all or some features of the present system of controlling traffic at the busy city crossings. “There is no doubt that the big crossings should be done away with in Christchurch as they have been in Auckland and Palmerston North,” said Mr H. M. Chrystall. “They spend money there but they won’t do it here. The expense of fixing up the main crossings would be less than the amount the Railway Department has to pay in compensation.

'Take the Colombo Street crossing, for instance. It is simply ridiculous that the Railway Department should be allowed to carry out shunting operations across the main thoroughfare of the city. The sooner the railway station and the main terminus are shifted out to Addington the better. With the present growth of motor traffic there is absolutely no reason why the railways should remain in the city. They are obsolete for short-distance work anyway.

“While the present crossings remain the only effective step that in my

opinion could be taken would be the installation of gates or some form of barrier that would block the roadway when trains were approaching and absolutely prevent traffic from crossing. “Although the trains have the right of way on crossings, to make motor traffic stop at crossings whether a train is approaching or not is absolutely unreasonable.

“It is also absolutely wrong that the nerve of engine drivers should be subject to the continual strain of passing over unprotected crossings where the possibility of human error may at any time cause an accident. If they knew that the crossings were efficiently barred off then it would greatly ease the strain on them.”

Dangerous Human Element. “As long as the crossings remain as they are then there will be the human element to contend with and the possibility of shocking accidents such as occurred last night will always be present,” said Dr W. Irving. “The only way to do away with the human element would be to put the road under or over the crossing, but whether that would be possible in this country Ido not know. It would be a big problem to tackle.

“Even when everything humanly possible is done to ensure the safety of the crossings there is still a danger. For instance, I disagree with the opinion that the crossing where the accident happened last night is a dangerous one, yet in spite of the fact that there was a crossing-keeper there with a lantern an accident occurred.”

The nature of the light used by crossing-keepers was condemned by the doctor, who said that his idea was that the crossing-keepers should be equipped with a powerful light with glass on all four sides, two opposite sides being red and the other two being green. By holding the light away from his body and in the right direction, the light would show green both ways along the railway line and red in both directions along the road. Bigger Lamps Wanted. Provided it is feasible and economically sound, I am certainly in favour of eliminating the busier crossings,” said Mr Charles Ogilvie, general manager of Beath and Co., Ltd. “I do not see how it would be possible to deal with ! all the crossings in the country, but each one should be considered on its merits. Many factors would have to be taken into consideration, however. If it was proposed to put up overhead bridges, the possible effect on neighbouring house properties in residential areas would have to be taken into account.”

Regarding the present system of guarding crossings, Mr Ogilvie had some strong criticism to make, mainly with reference to the size of the warning lamp carried by the keeper. “The lights the crossing keepers use are ten years out of date/' he said. “They are a relic of the times when everyone drove horses. The light should be very much bigger and very much stronger, and the keeper should hold it well out from his body. At present it frequently happens that the crossing man comes out with his lamp and holds it so that it is hidden from half of the approaching traffic. He thinks it can be seen, but it can’t. “When there are many other lights about then it becomes more difficult still. A man with ordinary common sense has only to go down to the Colombo Street crossing at night and see how insignificant the crossing keeper s light is when there are cars, motorcycles and cycles drawn up. It is very difficult to pick it up at all.” Mr Ogilvie said it was unfortunate that green lights were used on the crossings, but a change now would be unwise. Most of the motorists had become used to the green light, and if it were changed it would lead to more confusion and more accidents. Possibly one system of minimising the danger would be to run the road over or under a few selected crossings in Christchurch and close the remaining crossings to traffic during certain hours, including night time. Outlook in England. In England, where the railways are more or less privately owned, a vastly different outlook is observed. There the existing law is that the right of way lies with the road user, not with the railways. There is an antiquated rule which lays down that trains must slow down to walking pace before proceeding over a crossing. Gates (some automatic, some operated by a keeper) have been erected at almost all ofi* the crossings; but modern tendencies are to make the roads run under or ovei the railway lines. Work of this nature is being carried out, and England, despite its network of railways and its frequent service, has fewer accidents than New Zealand. The position, of course, has been grasped there that if railways and road are to cross there must be no questio nof half measures. The crossing must be safe for Doth railway passangers and road users.

America, with its vast spaces of open country, has far more excuses for l evel crossings than New Zealand, but, although that country has its share *.f crossings where accidents happen, the position has been realised to be a national danger. Drop-gates, subways and overhead roads are coming into their own.

Placing- Signals. Another cause for complaint is the placing of signals especially erected for motor traffic. It is claimed that the signals are placed without dmue regard to their effectiveness. The Matipo Street wig-wag signal was quoted as an example. Motorists who use the road frequently state that at night this signal is hard to pick up, being shadowed to some extent by surrounding objects. Here again is where lights are needed. Another sore point with motorists is the automatic devices at present in use. These, it is claimed, either shortcircuit and ring when no train is advancing on the crossing, or go out of aciton altogether. A case in point was quoted by a Riccarton driver who uses the Clarence Road crossing. Here, he states, on more than one occasion he has been held up by the warning bell. After he has waited as long as two minutes, no train has appeared, and he has proceeded with the bell ringing its loudest. At other times ’die sound of the bell has been sosoft as to make it almost unrecognisable. Such incidents are prone to bring the wellmeant signals into disrepute.

VICTIM'S SUITCASE TAKEN FROM SCENE.

“It's a mean, contemptible thing,” said Mr J. L. Benfell, uncle of Miss Isobel Benfell, who was killed in the Sockburn crossing accident, when informing a reporter this morning that a suitcase belonging to his niece had been stolen from the scene after the accident.

Mr Benfell said that his niece and Miss Palmer had been staying at his place for the week-end and had with them when they left, a suitcase containing clothing and other personal belongings. A hand-bag belonging to Matron Brand was recovered, but the suitcase was missing this morning.

1920 Killed. Injured. 19 1921 19 1922 31 1923 32 1924 98 1925 80 1926 40 1927 31 1928 47 1929 36 1930 (3i months) . 20 22 Totals . 130 470