Letters to the tditor
[Correspondents are requested to keep their letters as brief as is reasontaly possi!ile. The ntlst:::", suitable length is that of one of our " News of the Week " paragraphs.—Ed. SPE.NATORA
THE DEATH-DEALING WANDERER
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
Stn,—My attention was drawn recently to an article, entitled
The Death-Dealing Car," which appeared in the .issue of the Spectator, dated September 3rd. I read it with interest and, for the most part, with warm approval. In fact, .the only outright criticism I am prepared to make is in respect of the title ; and that may, or may not, have been chosen by the Writer of the exceedingly clear-headed statement appearing below it. Personally I am-not prepared to saddle the users of any one form of transport with such a sobriquet: My experience of road-usage, of walking since I was quite little, of cycling as a private school-boy, of owning and occasionally falling off a series of fast motor bicycles, of riding and driving horses, and of piloting scores of different cars over a total distance of some hundreds of thousands of miles, both in this country and on the Continent, has shown me that it is the individual who is the fool ; not the class of traveller to which he belongs. And the individual may be a pedestrian, a cyclist, a motor-cyclist, a rider, a grooM with a pony-trap or a motorist. Each and every type of road-user may directly cause the death of another through wandering-along, wool-gathering, instead of thinking what he or she is doing. Consequently, I have headed my letter, The Death-Dealing Wanderer."
Were I to challenge any statement in the article on " The Death-Dealing Car," it would be the one affirming that " the private Car and its owner stand convicted as the chief culprits "—in respect of responsibility for the annual number of accidents. But every article needs to be read in its entirety, and I have no intention of attempting to spoil or make fun of an otherwise valuable exposition of the modern accident problem.
I beg leave, however, to comment on one or two statements in that article of September 3rd, which do fit in with my own experience, and my excuse for so doing-is that I am fortunate enough•to have unusual experience of these matters. '
The author of "The Death-Dealing Car " says everyone knows that, in August, it is far from easy to maintain an average speed of, say twenty-seven or twenty-eight miles an hour in open country. I think, if I may say so, that he under-estimates the skill of the modern motorists in general. Although my own immediate circle of friends and acquaintances are for the most part expert drivers, yet in the course of my duties I have spent much time of recent years in watching the growth of road-ability in the general type of motorist. Indeed, it is upon my observation of his faults and difficulties that I have based the advisory talks which I have been privileged to give during the past three years in the National Broadcast Programme. Such a responsibility naturally induces the most careful utterance; and I have held to the principle that it is better to encourage the motorist to get the best out of his ear than to be content merely to use it as a conveyance for getting from a point A to a point B.
A general survey of motorists as I drive about now convinces `me that they are driVing better than they were even two years ago. Consequently I, too, am encouraged to think that one cannot do better than point the way to highly competent driving, which brings automatically in its train the highest standard of safety. So, although I cannot record that I, like the author. of "The Death-Dealing Car," content myself with an average of twenty-Seven miles an hour or observe that most others do sO, yet I find myself in complete agreement with his view that " in the end the one essential reform is the elimination of bad driving."
Later on in his article he rightly draws. attention to an annoying difficulty of Modern Motoring which is re4pOnsibh for more accidents in the course of a year than most people suppose. It is the problem of overtaking a "motor-coach or heavy commercial vehicle. As he points out, it is impossible to see past them. But in saying that,. " to draw_ out with a view to passing is to run some inevitable risk of head-on collision with an' approaChing car;' he lays himself open to Misunderstanding; for that particular manoeuvre only involves some inevitable risk when the driver wishing to overtake has brought his car up too close behind the vehicle preceding him. This, of course, is an example of thoughtless and incompetent driving. Unfortunately, it is the rule rather than the exception and your .contributor is by no means wrong in what he writes ; all that I now venture to do is call attention to the fact that the hazard he quotes, to which most drivers stupidly submit themselves, is an unnecessary one. Roughly 'four to eight car-lengths, depending naturally upon the 'nature of the road, is a sound distance for edging out and looking past a heavy motor with a view to passing it on a country road ; in traffic, where speeds are greatly reduced, this distance may be shortened to a matter of feet--as in London ; but in every case a change to a lower gear should be considered,. and more often than not it is required.
Those two points that I have touched upon are the only ones where the author of " The Death-Dealing Car " and myself are at all divided, and then it is not so much a difference of opinion as of expression. I most respectfully congratulate him upon as firm and unbiassed an article on accidents as 1 have ever read. ,
At the end of it he pleads for a new order of road-chivalry, and asks if the Prince of Wales could not see his way to give a lead in that direction. The answer is that I, myself, have had the honour to be chairman of just such an Order since 1928, and that His Royal Highness graciously signified hii; approval of it two years ago by becoming a member. I am sorry your contributor does not know of the Order of the Road, as it is called. I fear it must be because we cannot afford to advertise, being a voluntary association and solely dependent upon our ten-and-si xpenny membership subscrip- tion. Yet in four years We have grown to a membership of over two thousand, ranking now as the third biggest motoring organization in the country. Every member must have driven for three years, during which he has neither been convicted for dangerous driving nor been responsible i i any way for an accident. A minimum distance of 10,000 miles is required, and we reserve the right to investigate our members' insurance dossiers. Any accident must he reported at once, and the executive committee adjudicates upon it ; issuing a warning or advisory letter, or applying suspension or expulsion as the case may merit.
It is significant that we have not always agreed with the verdicts of magistrates and the opinions of the police ; the reason being that the executive committee of the Order of the Road is composed of specialists. But such a state of affairs is gradually changing as it was bound to change. Magistrates are becoming more knowledgeable motorists, while the mobile police are also striving to become good road users themselves, that they may help and direct others. The Order of the Road in every way open to it has pointed the way ; by speeches, by articles, by wireless talks and, above all, by example. Its standard of membership is a high one, both as regards morality and accomplishment ; quite high enough for the present-day driver. To become a member entails more than usual care and the expending of more than a little trouble. To remain a member calls for constant Watchfulness. Yet over two thousand public- spirited citizens are behind it. The Royal Automobile Club extends the hand of friendship to it, and helps it with unfailing good-fellowship. • I hope and believe it may interest your previous contribut ot, and prove to be the answer to his plea.--I any Sir, &e., The Executive Committee, The Order of the Road.
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