Simple Rule for Road Safety
Page 10
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FOR every 10 m.p.h. of his road speed. a driver should leave ahead of his vehicle at least a distance equal to its overall length. This rule of thumb was suggested by Prof. W. A. Bryce, of Toronto University, during a fleet supervisors' training course at McGill University, Canada.
An electrical device was used during an indoor driving test to demonstrate the distance required to stop a vehicle. A light van was accelerated to 20 m.p.h, Under the most favourable conditions 21 ft. was needed to bring a vehicle to rest from that speed.
Professor Bryce said that an average driver needed two-thirds of a second to react to an emergency and during that period travelled 19 ft. (at 20 m.p.h.). The distance covered between the moment of danger occurring and that
of halting was therefore about 40 ft., or about 2i times the length of the vehicle. Consequently, to drive safely at 20 m.p.h., a minimum clear distance of two vehicle-lengths was needed.
Seventy executives of leading Canadian commercial-vehicle operators attended the course, which aimed at the application of modern scientific methods to the reduction of road accidents. It was directed by Mr. Colin T. Gray, transport manager of National Breweries, Ltd., which provided the special driver-testing devices used.
Mr. J. 0. Asselin, chairman of Montreal Executive Committee, estimated that some 80,000 vehicles moved daily in the 50 sq. miles of the city's corporate area. The 18,000 truck drivers carried major responsibility in the prevention of accidents.