Review: Road Traffic and its Control
| Published date | 01 January 1939 |
| Date | 01 January 1939 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X3901200112 |
| Subject Matter | Review |
REVIEWS
ROAD
TRAFFIC
AND
ITS
CONTROL.
By H.
ALKER
TRIPP, C.B.E..
Assistant Commissioner of Police, Scotland Yard. (Edward Arnold &
Co., London.) 26s. net.
THIs volume is one of a series on road traffie problems and road engineering,
appearing as "
The
Roadmakers' Library."
The
companion volumes deal
with technical and engineering problems of road construction and main-
tenance, and with the law on the subject.
Mr.
Tripp's
contribution to the
series is of particular interest to the police administrator, on whose bookshelf
we predict for it an indispensable position, while the mass of information and
interest it provides for the general reader should make a wide appeal.
In Road Traffic and its Control
Mr.
Tripp
expresses in masterly and
well-ordered fashion the point of view which is held by the police on a
problem towards the solution of which practically every road user holds that
he has his own
remedy-a
factor which makes all the more difficult the task
of the police in seeing
that
the law on the subject is observed, administered
and enforced.
For
the first time
the"
police point of
view"
on traffic prob-
lems is stated, outside a Blue book, in terms about which there can be no
mistake.
As a contribution to constructive thought in the formation of national
policy towards the road and road users, the author presents an unanswerable
case.
The
work not being an official publication, the reader is warned that
the views expressed are
Mr.
Tripp's
own;
but
police readers of his book will
fairly unanimously subscribe to the opinions which are
put
forward. More-
over, his official position at Scotland Yard, with the task of organising the
traffic control, the enforcement of traffic laws, and the promotion of the safety
of the road using public in the Metropolitan Police District, adds special
weight to the opinions expressed by
Mr.
Tripp.
Mr.
Tripp
has long been known to police readers and to the London
public as an expert who has made a special study of traffic problems, and of
the contribution which the police can make to their solution. These qualifica-
tions, however, should be considered together with the author's own claim
to examine his subject not so much from the heights of an Assistant Com-
missioner's room at Scotland Yard,
but
from the several angles of the road
user, motorist, cyclist and pedestrian.
For
the general reader perhaps the most fascinating passage in the book
is that relating to traffic arrangements made for the Coronation in 1937.
Its
presentation furnishes a valuable picture which from an historical aspect
alone merited preservation; and from an instructional angle will prove in-
valuable to future commissioners of police (it is hoped many years ahead)
when similar arrangements again have to be organised.
The
plan of the
Coronation route is a valuable document.
The
author introduces new terminology to the subject. He distinguishes
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