Traffic manager

“ Where a motor vehicle carries an indivisable oversize or overload cargo, to the detriment of traffic safety, it shall be driven at a time, along the route and at the speed designated by the traffic control department of the public security organ and hung with conspicuous signs. ”

“ In this country where the road pattern is so complicated, we think it would assist travellers in finding their way between important towns if a system of Primary routes other than motorways was established, the roads in which would be clearly distinguished by having directional signs of a particular colour. Moreover, we foresee that this distinction might eventually enable a code of improved driver conduct, aimed at improving traffic flow and safety, to be applied generally to these Primary routes. ”

“ Yet even with the new law on the statute books, our traffic problems are still with us. We are forbidden by law to make formal agreements as to rates, yet it is universally recognized that in order to secure an equitable adjustment of rates, it is absolutely necessary that the traffic managers of the railroads shall confer frequently. ”

“ We believe that an effective step which could be taken to reduce these casualties would be to ensure that at the great majority of junctions, and certainly at those junctions where serious danger exists, the minor road is distinguished from the major so that drivers on the minor road are given a clear indication that they should give way to major road traffic. ”

“ A special problem arises here since traffic will arrive at the terminal junction (usually in the form of a roundabout) without leaving the main carriageway of the motorway. It is therefore imperative that adequate warning should be given so that drivers, though still on the motorway, will reduce speed to the greater extent which is necessary to enable them to negotiate the junction in safety. ”

“ We have recommended at paragraph 101 that at ordinary junctions along the motorway no sign is necessary to give warning of traffic from the entry slip road merging with the main motorway traffic. Where two motorways converge, however, each of them consisting of multi-lane carriageways, the problem is obviously more serious, and we consider that appropriate warning should be given. ”

“ If priority of improvement within the system be determined by either the magnitude of benefits resulting or the urgency of need, it is to these sections that first attention should be accorded.
Obviously, it is not possible by any limited highway system, whatever the relative importance of its constituent routes, to serve all the needs of the Nation’s traffic. Nor is it reasonable to assume that in and near the cities the routes included in such a limited system will if improved, provide a complete solution to the serious problem of city traffic congestion. ”

“ There is ample support for a legislative determination that the peculiar character of this traffic involves a special type of use of the highways, with enhanced wear and tear on the roads and augmented hazards to other traffic, which imposes on the state a heavier financial burden for highway maintenance and policing than do other types of motor car traffic. ”

“ Usually any traffic officer will be able to supply the tourist with a copy of the local rules and regulations governing traffic in state or city. Ultimately traffic regulations will be standardized, but as yet there is considerable variation in the matter. ”

“ But instances are rare indeed in which the congestion of through highways in cities has been attacked at its principal root—the frequent grade intersection of cross streets. Instead of eliminating this principal cause of traffic delay, city authorities have generally resorted to the installation of traffic lights for control of the intersecting traffic streams and the prevention of accidents, and this expedient measure has in some cases been so applied as to increase rather than reduce the obstruction of traffic. ”

“ In our view a great deal more could be done by the use of carriageway markings to increase safety at junctions not controlled by traffic signals or police and to remove doubt from the minds of drivers and consequently to make such junctions safer. ”

“ In the method of control known as the flexible progressive system the signals at a number of adjacent junctions can be co-ordinated in such a way that traffic may proceed at a uniform speed along the main thoroughfare without being held up at each successive intersection, while at the same time frequent opportunities are given for cross traffic to proceed. ”

“ When passing oncoming traffic, a driver shall leave sufficient lateral space and, if necessary, move close to the edge of the carriageway appropriate to the direction of traffic. If in so doing he finds his progress impeded by an obstruction or by the presence of other road-users, he shall slow down and if necessary stop to allow the oncoming road-user or road-users to pass. ”

“ The character of the interregional routes as main collectors of through traffic justifies the granting of preferential right-of-way to traffic moving on them over all crossing and entering traffic everywhere, throughout the system. A proper facilitation of the express traffic with due regard for safety and economy requires, moreover, a reduction of the number of access and crossing points to a practicable minimum. ”

“ A traffic survey should be carried out to determine the extent of the problem, not only to assess the suitability of the junction for box marking but also to establish whether any alternative measures might be effective (e.g. re-timing or linking of traffic signals at adjacent junctions) . ”

“ It seems to me that the chief function of the traffic officer should be to expedite the movement of traffic with safety; that arrests should be made only as a last resort to accomplish this; that the “gas station” traffic officer and the one who lurks behind a tree to pounce out upon the unwary motorist will have to go: that the traffic officer should be a friend of the motorist aiding him in distress and assisting in making his travel safe and pleasant. ”

“ At certain types of junctions where there is two-phase control, such as T junctions, staggered crossroads and junctions with one-way streets, we think that additional signals should more frequently be installed to ensure that pedestrians can see not only the signals controlling the traffic stream they are about to cross but also those for traffic flowing at right angles. ”

“ But at the same time every resource of traffic engineering and traffic control will be necessary in the urgent task of making more efficient and safer use of the road space available. Traffic signs are an important instrument in this process and to be effective they must be modernised to accord with the changed conditions in which they operate. ”

“ Bingaman, supra, the evidence in the present case shows that coupled cars, under control of a single driver, subject the highways to increased wear and tear because of their tendency to skid and sway on curves and in passing other traffic, and that the length of the caravans and the inefficiency and irresponsibility of the drivers, casually employed, increase traffic congestion and the inconveniences and hazards of automobile traffic. These circumstances have caused the state to make increased provision for the policing of the traffic. ”

“ Proper regulation and control of traffic are accordingly as essential to a GOOD highway system as are proper plans for its building and the use of proper materials in its construction.
Engineers and builders are the men behind the line in the battle for good roads. Maintenance forces and traffic officers are the men on the firing line. The maintenance engineers must see that roads once built are maintained in adequate condition for travel. Traffic officers must see that travel uses these roads properly. ”

“ Alternate one-way working past an obstruction should be controlled by traffic signals where traffic is dense or at extended obstructions; by manually operated Stop and Go signs where traffic is not dense and obstructions are small and of short duration; and, where the above means are not justified, by signs indicating the direction in which traffic has priority. ”

“ Article 38 Vehicles and pedestrians shall go by traffic lights; where traffic policemen direct traffic on the spot, they shall go by the direction of traffic policemen; and where there are no traffic signals, they shall follow the principles of ensured safety and unimpeded traffic. ”

“ Traffic conditions, however, are constantly changing, and the recurrence of present conditions can be prevented only by careful and far-sighted planning based on a definite knowledge of these changing highway and traffic conditions. Proper highway planning must be a continuous process, based on a continuing series of facts in order that the constantly increasing traffic demands may be foreseen and met with improvements as required. ”

“ The Public Roads Administration’s studies of the traffic-discharge capacity of highways have reached the conclusion that a one-way, two-lane roadway with no intersections will discharge without unreasonable congestion an hourly traffic of 3,000 vehicles moving at an average speed of 35 miles per hour. With equal congestion but with three traffic lights per mile, each set on a half-minute interval, the hourly discharge is reduced to at best 1,500 vehicles an hour. One or two more traffic lanes would have to be provided to restore the highway to its intersection-free capacity. ”

“ Casey himself was catapulted over the runabout, landing abruptly in a sitting position on the corner of the vacant lot beyond, his self-righteousness considerably jarred.
A new traffic officer had been detailed to watch that intersection and teach a driving world that it must not cut corners. A bright, new traffic button had been placed in the geographical center of the crossing; and woe be unto the right-hand pocket of any man who failed to drive circumspectly around it. New traffic officers are apt to be keenly conscientious in their work. ”

“ And with all the finesse of their work the traffic moves like molasses. Long double and triple files of touring cars and limousines, the combined cost of which would render statistics such as would gladden the heart of a Sunday editor, make their way up and down the great street tediously. If a man is in a hurry he has no business even to essay the Avenue. And occasionally the whole tangle is double-tangled. The shriek of a fire-engine up a side street or the clang of an ambulance demanding a clear right-of-way makes the traffic question no easier. ”

“ At most crossings, however, pedestrians are at present expected to judge for themselves when it is safe to cross by keeping their eye on the traffic. At the simpler junctions pedestrians are usually able to see at least one signal appropriate to each traffic phase to help them in judging the traffic situation. But where complex methods of control are employed, signals can be confusing or misleading and it is safer to judge mainly by watching the traffic. ”

“ A with-flow bus lane should be brought up to the Stop line at a traffic signal only if a reduction in capacity of the junction is acceptable, if safe provision can be made for any left-turning traffic and if right-turning traffic can be accommodated in such a way that it does not restrict flow in the ahead lanes. ”

“ The problem can occur even when there is more than one lane. At times of light traffic flow, a vehicle being driven in the left hand lane at 70 mph might close unexpectedly rapidly on a slow-moving lorry, or on a queue of vehicles waiting to pass it. ”

“ When confronted with a situation in which motor vehicles are standing or running slowly in a queue at the section or junction of a road where the lanes are decreased, or at a road crossing where there are no traffic signal lights, traffic signs or traffic line markings or direction of traffic police, the motor vehicles shall take turns to pass in order. ”

“ Double white lines are in general well respected, but they impose arbitrary restrictions on some drivers - for example those who have a better view because they are seated higher above the road. It is important that the marking is not used where the appropriate criteria are not satisfied, otherwise it will be brought into disrepute and eventually lose the respect of drivers. Routes, including those that cross traffic authority boundaries, should be considered as a whole, in order to maintain consistent standards. ”

“ Where one-way systems have been introduced signal-heads facing the direction in which traffic no longer flows should be retained and their lenses masked to show only a cross so that pedestrians are warned before traffic starts to move again. ”

“ As with intermediate junctions, it is essential that drivers should receive sufficient warning to enable them to get into the left-hand lane in readiness to turn off the motorway to enter the slip road to the service area without endangering other traffic. We therefore propose that the approach to a service area should be signposted in the same way as the approach to an intermediate junction, with signs a mile and half-mile in advance and at the beginning of the deceleration lane leading into the slip road. ”

“ The problem of controlling traffic, however, is by no means, unsolvable. An assisting force in the fight for better highways is the fact that an overwhelming majority of motorists desire to be careful and to do the right and fair thing by fellow motorists. The problem these drivers present is to bring to them a realization of the great, everpresent and immediate danger that lurks behind the least act in careless driving. The traffic officer becomes here a professor in the College of Safe Driving, the students of which extend over the world and are literally numbered by the millions. ”