Page:Report of the Departmental Committee on Traffic Signs (1946).djvu/63

 warranted by traffic conditions. He further stated that in all proposed new signal installations submitted for his approval he would require to be satisfied that provision had been made where necessary for the protection and guidance of pedestrians.

It has been suggested that on main thoroughfares where vehicular and pedestrian traffic are both heavy but there is little vehicular cross-traffic, signals located at suitable intervals should be linked together on a flexible progressive system so that the vehicular traffic moves smoothly along the whole route at a uniform speed in platoons, and pedestrians can cross the road safely in the gaps between the platoons when the signals are showing red to vehicular and green to pedestrian traffic. How far the desired result can be obtained in practice and to what type of routes it can be applied, can be determined only by full scale experiments. Such experiments were under consideration when the war supervened and we recommend that they should now be made as soon as traffic and other circumstances permit.

Unfortunately pedestrians do not make adequate use of special facilities provided for them in signal installations, whether these facilities are pedestrian signals of the type mentioned in the second sub-paragraph of this paragraph or are pedestrian periods introduced in the cycle of junction installations as described in the fourth sub-paragraph. We recommend that all possible measures be taken to educate the pedestrian to make full use of facilities of this nature provided specially for his safety.

Hours of operation

174. We recommend that vehicle actuated installations should normally operate throughout the twenty-four hour period. With this type of equipment traffic is not held up unnecessarily when the volume of traffic is light as was sometimes the case with fixed-time equipment.

Review of isolated fixed-time installations

175. There are still in operation numerous isolated fixed-time installations which control one junction only. We recommend that a review of these be undertaken and that where it is necessary to provide for more efficient control of traffic they should be converted to vehicle actuated working as soon as possible.

“Turn Left” and “No Right Turn”

176. Diagrams 125 and 126 in Appendix VI show existing signs “Turn Left” and “No Right (or Left) Turn” for attachment to the signal head in appropriate cases to give effect to statutory Orders or Regulations. In view of their importance we consider that they should be rendered more prominent - and we recommend the adoption of the signs shown in diagrams 127 and 128.

We further recommend that :

(a) Both signs should be internally illuminated at all times. (At present the Turn Left (or Right) sign is only illuminated when the green signal is illuminated, but is legible at all times during daylight.)

(b) The signs should be placed beside the green lens, and on that side of the signal head appropriate to the wording on the sign (e.g. “Turn Left” on the left side of the signal and “No Right Turn” on the right side of the signal) provided that this can be done without rendering inadequate the clearance between the signals and traffic on the carriageway.

(c) The signs should be provided in all cases on the secondary signals as well as on the primary.