LONDON TRAFFIC
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
Sin,—In the paragraph in the Spectator of July 31st, stating that " roundabout traffic as now practised in Trafalgar Square and elsewhere was first proposed to the London County Council in 1897 by Mr. Holroyd Smith," you ask why it was necessary for thirty years to elapse before appre- ciating its advantages.
The Motor of June 22nd pointed out that the London Traffic problem existed nearly seventy years ago, and pub- lished an extract from the Illustrated London News of January 8rd, 1857, received from a correspondent, as follows :
" Danger of Street Crossings in London.—We often hear that London is growing inconveniently large and populous. This we feel by the distances to be traversed in going to see persons in remote suburbs ; but even in the heart of London we are made sensible of its inconvenient populousness. Anyone who examines for a quarter of an hour the principal crossings, such as at the Regent Circus, must be struck with the great inconvenience to which passengers are subjected, especially in sloppy weather—a group waiting at the side until the road seems clear, then making a dash across at the risk of a slip and a fall, while a cab or carnage• drives pelting past utterly regardless of the safety or cleanliness of the foot passengers. . . . Now, it appears to us that all this might be very easily avoided by the simplest clock mechanism conspicuous at the principal crossings causing a tin plate to revolve every minute.; the side painted red might be a signal for vehicles to stop and passengers to proceed : blue for passengers to stop and vehicles to proceed. We recommend this to our police authoritieri."
I am, Sir, &c,
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