Traffic regulation

“ We would be trespassing on one of the most intensely local and specialized of all municipal problems if we held that this regulation had no relation to the traffic problem of New York City. It is the judgment of the local authorities that it does have such a relation. And nothing has been advanced which shows that to be palpably false.
The question of equal protection of the laws is pressed more strenuously on us. It is pointed out that the regulation draws the line between advertisements of products sold by the owner of the truck and general advertisements. ”

“ Take another function assumed by the police—the regulation of traffic. Daily, all through London, ten thousand fast-going vehicles, with hard-pressed men of business in them, are stopped by a sprinkle of slow-going carts and wagons. Greater speed in these comparatively few carts and wagons, or limitation of them to early and late hours, would immensely diminish the evil. But, instead of dealing with these really great hinderances to traffic, the police deal with that which is practically no hindrance. ”

“ The courts of New York have declared that the sole nature and purpose of the regulation before us is to reduce traffic hazards. There is not even a pretense here that the traffic hazard created by the advertising which is forbidden is in any manner or degree more hazardous than that which is permitted. It is urged with considerable force that this local regulation does not comply with the equal protection clause because it applies unequally upon classes whose differentiation is in no way relevant to the objects of the regulation. ”

“ Eno expected to get out of it, than to the good that would come to the public through such regulation. He later received favorable consideration by Maj. Gen. Francis V. Greene, Police Commissioner, and by Capt. A. R. Piper, U. S. A. Retired, who had been placed in charge of traffic. In a letter dated October 14, 1909, General Greene gives due credit to Eno, thus, [210]
The plan for street traffic regulation owed its inception to you, and you have followed it up consistently and persistently to its present almost perfect development ”

“ Traffic Problem.—One of the most serious administrative problems met with in London is that of locomotion, especially as regards the regulation of traffic in the principal thoroughfares and at the busiest crossings. The police have powers of control over vehicles and exercise them admirably; their work in this respect is a constant source of wonder to foreign visitors. But this control does not meet the problem of actually lessening the number of vehicles in the main arteries of traffic. ”

“ Regulation of vehicular traffic over the highways of the United States involves a far more varied and complex undertaking. The highways of the country have been built by the states with substantial financial aid from the federal government in the construction of some of them. [3] They are state owned, and, in general, are open in each state to use by privately owned and controlled motor vehicles of widely different character as respects weight, size, and equipment. ”

“ I was personally in favour of limiting the speed to twenty-five miles an hour in the open and ten miles through towns and villages; but as all the other members of the Commission felt that in the open country we should rely upon the powers of the present Highway Act, which makes it a serious offence to drive at a speed causing danger to the public, and were in favour of a no-speed limit, [Pg 214] except through villages, I gave way so that our report might be a unanimous report. We made a long list of recommendations for the better regulation of motor traffic. ”

“ The widespread variations in traffic regulations, and especially in registration requirements, laid a severe burden on motorists and also on automobile manufacturers who regarded them as obstacles to vehicle ownership and the expansion of the market for automobiles. ”

“ 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. ”

“ We think it right to consider to what extent traffic signs are guilty in this respect and what should be done about sign clutter.
The increase in vehicles has perforce been accompanied by more traffic regulations and prohibitory and mandatory signs have multiplied. Clearly it is essential for safety and ease of travel, as well as to secure compliance with the law, that adequate traffic signs should be provided and maintained. But we believe they can be improved in siting, and in some places reduced in number, both in towns and in the country. ”

“ The one sure remedy for Grade crossing and highway automobile accidents is safe driving. Accidents generally result from carelessness or incompetence. Instead of burdening the people with compulsory insurance, legislation and tax issues to eliminate all grade crossings, educate the public and enforce practical traffic codes. Reckless and drunken drivers should not be allowed on highways. They are a constant menace to life and property. Those who dash across grade crossings and give no heed to traffic regulations should, after warning be deprived of licenses. ”

“ Article 39 In light of the specific road conditions and the volume of traffic flow, the traffic control department of the public security organ may take such measures as regulating, restricting and prohibiting the flow of traffic with regard to motor vehicles, non-motor vehicles and pedestrians. Under conditions of large-scale mass activities or construction on a wide scale, for which restrictive traffic measures need to be taken, or decisions directly relating to the road traffic activities of the public need to be made, the matter shall be made known to the public in advance. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ We cannot say that there are not reasons applicable to the streets of large cities-such as their use by a great number of persons or the density and continuity of traffic-justifying measures to safeguard the public from dangers incident to the operation of motor vehicles which do not obtain in the case of the smaller communities. ”

“ 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. ”

“ May the city's right to limit the number of vehicles, and to prohibit stops to load or unload passengers, be exercised in such a way as to allocate streets on which motor traffic is more profitable exclusively to the local lines and to allocate streets on which the traffic is less profitable to the lines engaged wholly, or partly, in interstate commerce? ”

“ Even if traffic light signals authorize him to do so, a driver shall not enter an intersection if the density of traffic is such that he will probably be obliged to stop on the intersection, thereby obstructing or preventing the passage of cross traffic. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The legislature could reasonably have concluded that the wear and tear and injury to the highways from driving coupled cars intrazone was negligible, and that the relatively short distances which cars are driven in twos or threes, the character of the highways used, and the difference in the class of drivers, taken together, eliminate from the intrazone traffic or so substantially reduce the burden imposed by traffic like that of appellees moving interstate or interzone as to require, in fairness, a different classification for the purpose of fees charged for the use of the highways. ”

“ If a vehicle is illegally parked, creating a hazard or otherwise impeding the
movement of traffic, the traffic police officer has the authority to tow such
vehicle at the expense of the vehicle’s owner. ”

“ Where separation of grades at highway intersections is not feasible, and at all points where vehicles may be expected to cross, enter, or leave the interregional highway, the design shall be such as to insure a high degree of safety in crossing, entering or leaving it, without installation of traffic control signals, which shall in no case be employed. ”

“ The right to limit access should be acquired at all points and should be exercised wherever and whenever the amount of entering vehicles is likely to endanger appreciably, or interfere materially, with the freedom of movement of the main stream of traffic. ”

“ More serious than its effects upon highway design policy, however, is the effect of this variety of State vehicle regulatory laws upon the flow of interstate traffic. When different dimensions and weights are fixed as the largest permissible in each of two States, vehicles that can legally be operated in one can be operated in the other only in violation of law. ”

“ The roads were simply too crooked and the rights-of-way too narrow to permit upgrading to modern standards. More and more, the States began to build new roads on new locations for high speed traffic, relinquishing the old ones to the counties for maintenance. ”

“ No road-user shall linger while traversing a level crossing; if a vehicle is compelled to stop, its driver shall endeavour to move it off the track, and, if he is unable to do so, immediately do everything he can to ensure that the drivers of rail-borne vehicles are warned of the danger in time. Article 20: Rules applicable to pedestrians 1.
Contracting Parties or subdivisions thereof shall be free not to enforce the provisions of this Article except in cases where pedestrian traffic on the carriageway would be dangerous or would obstruct vehicular traffic. ”

“ But whether a road should have four or six or eight lanes, or there should be dividers, or circles or jughandles for turns, or traffic lights, or traffic policemen, or a speed limit of 50 or 60 miles per hour -- such matters involve discretion and revenue and are committed to the judgment of the legislative and executive branches. ”

“ It will be seen, however, that the combined operations of the Royal Automobile Club, the Automobile Association and Motor Union, and the Road Board constitute, in effect—and more especially from the point of view of provision of facilities for through traffic under satisfactory conditions—a national road policy far in advance of anything this country has ever seen before.
These road improvements appeal to the motorist, delighting in cross-country journeys, still more than they do to the urban trader, whose road transport does not, generally speaking, extend beyond a certain radius. ”

“ As the street and highway networks expanded, more and more people found it convenient to live in the suburbs and drive to and from work, but the convenience decreased rapidly as the highways became congested with ever-increasing volumes of vehicles.
The city, county and State highway authorities tried to keep up with the traffic increase, first by widening streets and highways and then by providing special high-capacity roads such as parkways and expressways, commonly financed by bond issues. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”