The Traffic Problem
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X6003300202 |
| Published date | 01 April 1960 |
| Author | R. P. Wilson |
| Date | 01 April 1960 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
R.
P.
WILSON,
O.B.E.
Chief Constable of West Sussex
The
Trame
Problem
THE
TRAFFIC
PROBLEM
has been with us for a very long time but
only now, with the yearly increase in the number of vehicles on our
roads, is it being realised that an answer must be found or
conditions will become impossible.
In 1936, the present writer recorded his views in the
POLICE
JOURNAL
(Vol. X,
No.4,
King's Police Gold Medal Essay Competi-
tion) in these words:
The
situation with which we are
now
confronted
is,
of
course,
the
result
of
a
tremendous
increase
not
only in the
number
but
in the speed
of
vehicles using
our
roads. Highways
built
in
the
days
of
slow moving
traffic have also become
quite
unsuited
for
modern
vehicles,
and
such
improvements
as
have
been carried
out
are
inadequate.
A
ready
answer
would
be
that
the
remedy
lies in a
reduction
in the
number
of vehicles
on
the
roads,
but
to limit the
production
of
our
motor
car
factories
would be to strike avital blow
at
that
industry
and
through
it at
the
prosperity
of
the whole country.
The
answer
must
then
be
found
elsewhere,
though
much
can be
done
by
improving
our
roads
through
a
far
sighted
policy which will
take
into
account
a still
greater
increase in traffic,
together
with even
higher
speeds
than
are
usual
today.
The
lines on which
further
road
improvement
might
be based in
both
towns
and
the
country
will be suggested
later
on
in this essay.
It
will
also
be discussed
whether
sufficient
control
over
all
road
users is exercised
and
what
further
means,
if any,
are
required
to provide areasonable check on
human
errors
of
judgment, carelessness,
inattention,
and
the
like.
What, then, has been done since 1936? Remarkably little, at
least in the way of legislation. Pedal cyclists have been brought
within the Road Traffic Act, 1930, and the 1956 Act has increased
the maximum penalties for certain offences (though these are sel-
dom used to their full extent), pedestrians must obey traffic direc-
tion at crossings, and we have Section 8 of the Road Traffic Act,
1956 to deal with motor manslaughter cases.
. So far as roads are concerned, a good deal has been done and is
being done to create motorways and double lane roads for fast
traffic, but the basic problem is still with us and indeed gets steadily
worse. What can be done about it?
There are three fundamental problems for consideration and
action; these are, firstly, improvement of the roads both in town
and country which carry the traffic; secondly, tightening up of the
rules and regulations which control the traffic; thirdly, the personal
78 April-Lune 1960
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