Taking the Strain
Page 36
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rr HE outstanding characteristic of the 1 Commercial Motor Show, was the attention paid to the driver by manufacturers and bodybuilders. Vehicles are being made easier to drive by reducing the effort required in steering and gear changing, and by providing greater comfort and improved visibility. There is, however, no question of the driver being pampered. Improvements that have been made are necessary in the interests of safety and efficiency under presentday traffic conditions.
Several large operators have, within the past year or so, noticed a tendency for drivers' nerves to break. Men have asked to be transferred to other work at an earlier age than might be expected. They have said that they cduld no longer withstand the stress imposed by modern traffic c-onditions.
This is an aspect of present-day life on the roads that is liable to be overlooked. The turnover of labour in road transport is already too high, and the introduction of a new irritant will further increase labour wastage.
In many undertakings the problem of finding alternative employment for men who become too old to handle large vehicles and loads, but are still too young to retire, is serious. It will be aggravated by any tendency for drivers to succumb unduly early to the stress of modern traffic. This is another reason why energetic and imaginative action must be taken to deal with congestion.
Brilliance of driving lights on some vehicles is another cause of exhaustion to oncoming drivers. If beams of such intensity are necessary to enable their users to pull up safely in the dark, the drivers are travelling much too fast for modern road conditions. In rear lighting, too, the pendulum has swung to the opposite extreme of past inadequacy, and some of the stop lights now being fitted to cars are completely dazzling when seen at short range.
The permitted intensity of front and rear lights requires to be re-examined.