The evening world., 1921-01-26
4 Signal Code
To Lessen
Motor PenlS
By John S. Phillips.

BY John ). PhHitpS.
Every public spirited citizen must
see with growing concern the increase
in the number Of deaths and injuries
caused by motor traffio accidents on
the streets Of cities and even on
country highways. The whole A. ID
r. distributed as traffic officers
throughout the land would be insufa-
Client for practical and salutary con-
troll.
Some plan must be devised by
which the trafic will measura,bly
control itself-or at least tend to do so.
The congestion in the cities has
reached a point where the waste of
truck hours, taxi hours, and time loss
to pedestrians by interruption are
in the gross enormous and represent
unbelievable money and service values.
I propose, as a hrst step. that w
should have a simple universal coda
Of signals by horn: Short and pro-
longed blasts OF the horn, in com
binauon with intervals, to indicate
the intention OF the driver giving the
signal There are needed Compare
lively few main signals.
Such a set OF signals would have b
be worked out very carefully, using
suggestions and advice of various
kinds Of experts in street trafic,
acoustics, safety, &c.
Just TO illustrate the idea, and with
no purpose OF making anything more
than a suggestion to start from, let's
imagine that the signals were as fol-
lows:
Going straight ahead"-Two short
blasts, with perceptible interval be-
tween, II repeated.
Turning 10 right - Two long
blasts.
Turning to left''-one short and
one long.
Turning around"-Three long.
Backing 49, Three short blasts.
(This Is a signal suggested for this
purpose in bulletins of the National
Safety COunciL)
More viii be needed, no DOUBT, for
special purposes, as when a driver Of
truck at the head Of a line Of We
hDcleS wishes TO stop and back to
curb and must have room to do so.
There should also be an answ ering
signal used in case a driver desires
70 show that he understands,
hints TO indicate the kind OF signal
code that might be devised. The
present difficulties of Interruptions
and dangers Of traffic arise in part
from the fact that one driver seldom
knows the intention OF other drivers
And pedestrians have stiu greater
difficulties in realizing whether a
vehicle Is going to turn to the right
or to the left or going straight ahead.
4. I..=a a
at first glance to be a little comph-
! Gated, but as a matter Of fact 1t In
very simple. We instantly know the
difference between long blasts OF a
horn and short blasts. We know
without measuring when en- interval
between sounds is shorter or longer.
ALI those who have anything TO do
with water traffic can in a very short
time undo rstand the signals OF the
pilot code, and there are quite num-
| Der of them. The intervals are pre-
scribed by law in seconds, but that
makes no difference; you know what
| a long blast Is and what a short one
| Is Every fog signal on the coast, al
most, is regulated in such a way that
by the length OF the sound and the
intervals you can determine exactly
which one II iS-
have sailed and oruised quite .
| lIbllt anu NNCIY llhthN III nulAAAAANA
go out on the Fall River boat when
| the North River rs most crowded.
| vt with few signals boats move in
and out safely. In thirty years OF
travel on the Sound boats and many
years OF yacht cruising up and down
| The coast, l have never been in q
collision and have seen only one.
In our anarchy of motor trafic we
need a fundamental plan, simple and
clear, that can be readily learned by
drivers and pedestrians, and may.
when perfected, be established b1
law as our pilot rules are. WhenF
decided upon by competent peopleN
It will spread faster throughout the
! Nation than such things usually do,
for manufacturers, automobile clubs,
safety societies, truck owners, traffic
| policemen and state officials may be
| enlisted as an educationl force.
After working over the possibtli-
ties of a plan Gan idea that occurred
to me first when on the committee
appointed by former Commissioner
Woods to investigate street tragic
and accidents) believe that In the
outline above and its corollarieS
there is the beginning OF a practical
set of motor signals, that worked
out in detail, will be OF real public
service.