TRAFFIC AND DESIGN
SIR,—May. I add a tardy comment to the discussion which followed the article of Mr. Gordon Wilkins in your October 22 issue ? Since your publication reaches these farthest reaches of civilisation only three weeks to a month after publication, I have only now had the opportunity to see Mr. Wilkins's article,
The author states that British roads have adversely affected the design of British motor-cars; this is not entirely true. The design, and particulaft the size, of autos built in Britain is admirably suited to the road and traffic conditions of Britain; most of these cars are neither awkward midgets nor clumsy giants. This will be dramatised when the flow of American automobiles scheduled to arrive in Britain in 1955 will begin to clutter up your streets and roads; most American-built cars are huge, unwieldy, petrol and space gobbling behemoths totally unsuited to not only your traffic conditions but those in the North-East United States also. Their over-inflated design makes them mag- nificently lethal, and robs the public of valuable road and parking space, as even American traffic engineers now readily admit.
Therefore, it seems to be in the interest of British motorists and public authorities not only to continue severe restrictions in the import of unsuitable auto-cars, but also to encourage British motor-car builders to main- tain their leadership in 'building sensibly engineered vehicles. Unless these measures are swiftly taken, Britain's roads and city streets will face the almost insuperable prob- lem which has snarled traffic here—the space- wasting and unmanceuvrability of • over- inflated automobiles.—Yours faithfully, F. SCHWARZENBEROR1 915 West End Avenue, New York 25, NY
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