Road Traffic Reflections
| Author | T. Raybould |
| Date | 01 October 1946 |
| Published date | 01 October 1946 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X4601900409 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
ROAD
TRAFFIC
REFLECTIONS
287
of the camera, and a table of magnifications can be prepared by noting
the various camera extensions.
The
only light required for general
use is a 60 watt opal bulb, used in one of the metal containers in con-
junction with abull's-eye condenser to concentrate the beam. Accurate
focusing is essential, for it must be borne in mind
that
the lighting
requires to show up every detail in a very small area.
The
lighting must
be carefully adjusted to ensure even illumination, and it must be so
arranged as to avoid hard shadow effects.
Road Traffic Reflections
By
SUPERINTENDENT
T.
RAYBOULD, D.C.C.,
Walsall Borough Police
THE Home Secretary recently drew the attention of all Chief
Constables to the desirability of setting up, wherever possible, a
special Traffic Department in those Forces where such a Department
did
not
exist. Such Departments are more than desirable; it is becoming
increasingly obvious that they are a necessity, and where such Depart-
ments are
not
already in existence no
doubt
steps are being taken, as
rapidly as the difficult man-power situation will permit, to comply
with the Home Secretary's request.
Traffic Departments in themselves will not be a cure-all for all
the
ills which beset us on the roads to-day. About the end of the year
1945 and during the early part of 1946 there were several bad accidents
on our railways, all of which made front-page news for the daily Press.
Serious as were the loss of life and the injuries sustained by the
unfortunate persons involved in these accidents, it must be admitted
that compared with the casualty figures of the accidents which daily
take place on our roads the loss of life and the maiming in the railway
accidents was insignificant. Railway accidents very fortunately occur
infrequently and thus attract immediate public attention; road accidents
occur with such distressing frequency that there is a danger of the
public coming to regard them as inevitable and unpreventable.
There
is a tendency to blame the motorist as being mainly
responsible for road accidents,
but
it must be borne in mind
that
accidents occur through the presence on the roads of motor and other
vehicles, pedal cyclists and pedestrians. While it is customary for
the public to blame the motorist, there can be little doubt that pedal
cyclists and pedestrians are not free from blame in this matter, and it is
consequently unfair to saddle the driver of the motor vehicle with the
whole of the responsibility.
What
further can be done to strengthen the hands of the new
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