Evening star., 1938-04-24
NEWS OF THE MOTORING WORLD
10000 to March Here May in Annual A. A. A. Safety Patrol
Parade-Police Delve Into Engineering Field.

OF vehicle and pedestrian traf1ic enter.
ing and leaving the location, studies
OF how well stop signs and traf1ic sig.
mails are obeyed, speed checks the de.
termination Of the proper speed limit
to be observed in approaching q given
intersection, and measurements of haz-
ardous parking conditions.
With the accident-prone locations
identified and thoroughly investigated,
the handbook explains the correct use
OF trafnc engineering devices and
methods to remove whatever hazards
are found. 1t explains. for example,
the conditions under which traf1ic sig
mails should be used, describes their
proper design, installation and Location
and explains how to time them on the
basis OF existing traf1ic conditions dis
covered through field studies.
Stop signs are treated in a similar
manner. Because stop signs, like
traf1lc signals, are effective only under
certain conditions, the police are
warned against installing stop signs
merely to satisfy pressure from some
neighborhood group or other source.
How to measure the need for stop
signs is explained and standards for
installation and location are described.
Similar measuring sticks for other
types of warning signs and for street
markings are given. There are sections
on the rounding Of curbs, prohibition
of turns and means of discouraging
jay-walking.
A chapter on the treatment Of
traflc on the business street takes up
the important relationships between
traffc and retail trade. Trafic engi-
neering techniques for facilitating
business street traffic and making 1t
safer are presented Special atten-
ton is given to parking regulation
and various methods Of regulating
curb parking are presented. The
handbook points out. however, that
the most effective parking control
comes from taking parked cars COM
pletely off the street, and methods Of
doing so through the provision Of
off-street parking space are pre-
sented
A chapter on the treatment OF
traffic on the residential and outlying
streets is included.
A second part of the book entitled
Getting Results" offers a series Of
II examples illustrating the corrective
effect Of many of the traffic engineer
ing techniques described 1n the book.
These examples are taken from the
files of police departments in many
cities throughout the country.
An appendix explains in detail how
to make various traffic engineering
field studies. The material and illus
trations presented have never before
appeared in print
Police Supt. George H. Reyer of
New Orleans, president Of the Inter-
national Association Of Chiefs of Po-
lice, commenting on the publication,
last week, emphasized that 1t Is not
intended to encourage police to take
over traffic engineering work entirely.
Since the work of the traffic engi-
neer is often highly technical" he
said, "cities are urged to employ spe-
cially trained men for the task. But
generally cities have not as yet en-
ployed such men and as result the
police have been called upon not only
to patrol streets and boulevards but
also to make them physically safer.
So long as police are required by their
communities to do this WORK. they
need help in doing it properly and
uniformly according to recognized
Standards"