Sim—A letter from one of your readers, published today, deals with trae conditions on Szechuen Road. 1 feel that any intelligent observer will support your correspondent, but why refer only to Szechtien oad There has been a general deteriora-Yon in traffic conditions throughout the International Settlement for some years, caused almost. solely by in-feMicient, ineffective and, frequently. complete absence at any attempt at control.
It Is axiomatic that traffic condl-Hons are as good or as bad as the authorities in control permit. them to be, and slovenly traffic control is frequently indicative of and of the cause of slackness in other sections of police activities.
A tour of the Toternational Settlement leaves the impression that with the exception of certain busy road, intersections allempts al control have been practically' abandoned, In the case of Foochow Road this does not apply as efficiency of trafic control durin certain periods of the ax soon as the motor ears of the various high police officials have passed, chaos is again restored holds sway for the greater part of the day, in line with practically all other thoroughfares in the International Settlement.
Possibly there is something to be' said for' the fact that the. traffic @epartment is understaffed, but even duties efficiently, 1 ix no ing the numbers of trate constables if they are to be allowed to. carry out their duties in the same inefficient manner og they are doing at present.
Undoubtedly" the chief offenders: are the drivers of railless trams" (1 ive them priority) and buses. These rarely if ever cota ith trate regulations when stopping to let or take passengers. they stop five or more the kerb, with no obstacles:
way. Furthermore the da erous manner in which they pull out from the roadside into the tragic stream is a_potential if not actual cause of serious accidents.. Almost Invariably rickshaws and moier ears tare forced to give way, being lighter and weitker vehicles. at considerable isk {0 themselves. Then again railless trams and buses hold the crown of the road unnecessarily.
We have to tolerate the anti vehicles of the Tram Company, owing the protection they get from their franchise, but that should not protect them in the case of raffle offences.
The next important contributors to existing chaos are motor trucks which are usually so heavily laden to be able {o move (invariably in the centre of the road) at a speed chieh holds up the. trafic stream or if light or empty, at a speed which frightens all ther tradi into the Mand trucks, rickshaws and cyclists cureer all over the roads, cutting corners, and disobeying traffic signals nnd regulations generally.
Private motor ears are not by any means froe from blame, but it must be said that they show better traffic discipline than any other road users which is as it should be, because of the higher speed of private vehicles. but motor cars are called upon to bear more than their share of tram™e discipline as the result of the deterloration in trame control.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.