The Battle for the Roads of Britain: Police, Motorists and the Law, c.1890s to 1970s

248 Pages·2015·0.978 MB·English

by  Keith Laybourn, David Taylor (auth.)

The Battle for the Roads
of Britain
Police, Motorists and the Law, c.1890s to
1970s
Keith Laybourn
with
David Taylor
The Battle for the Roads of Britain
This page intentionally left blank
The Battle for the Roads
of Britain
Police, Motorists and the Law, c.1890s to
1970s
Keith Laybourn
DiamondJubileeProfessor,UniversityofHuddersfield,UK
with
David Taylor
EmeritusProfessorinHistory,UniversityofHuddersfield,UK
Palgrave
macmillan
©KeithLaybournandDavidTaylor2015
Softcoverreprintofthehardcover1stedition2015978-0-230-35932-1
Allrightsreserved.Noreproduction,copyortransmissionofthis
publicationmaybemadewithoutwrittenpermission.
Noportionofthispublicationmaybereproduced,copiedortransmitted
savewithwrittenpermissionorinaccordancewiththeprovisionsofthe
Copyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988,orunderthetermsofanylicence
permittinglimitedcopyingissuedbytheCopyrightLicensingAgency,
SaffronHouse,6–10KirbyStreet,LondonEC1N8TS.
Anypersonwhodoesanyunauthorizedactinrelationtothispublication
maybeliabletocriminalprosecutionandcivilclaimsfordamages.
Theauthorshaveassertedtheirrightstobeidentifiedastheauthorsofthis
workinaccordancewiththeCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988.
Firstpublished2015by
PALGRAVEMACMILLAN
PalgraveMacmillanintheUKisanimprintofMacmillanPublishersLimited,
registeredinEngland,companynumber785998,ofHoundmills,Basingstoke,
HampshireRG216XS.
PalgraveMacmillanintheUSisadivisionofStMartin’sPressLLC,
175FifthAvenue,NewYork,NY10010.
PalgraveMacmillanistheglobalacademicimprintoftheabovecompanies
andhascompaniesandrepresentativesthroughouttheworld.
Palgrave®andMacmillan®areregisteredtrademarksintheUnitedStates,
theUnitedKingdom,Europeandothercountries.
ISBN978-1-349-57413-1 ISBN978-1-137-31785-8(eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781137317858
Thisbookisprintedonpapersuitableforrecyclingandmadefromfully
managedandsustainedforestsources.Logging,pulpingandmanufacturing
processesareexpectedtoconformtotheenvironmentalregulationsofthe
countryoforigin.
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
AcatalogrecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheLibraryofCongress.
To Julia and Thelma
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
ListofTables viii
Preface ix
Acknowledgements x
ListofAbbreviations xii
1 TheChallengeofAutomobilityandtheResponseof
PolicinginBritain:AnOverviewofaNewVista 1
2 HistoriographyandArgument 25
Part I PolicingBritainc.1900–1970:Enforcingthe
LawontheMotorist
3 ‘AnUnwantedbutNecessaryTask’:TrafficPolicingandthe
EnforcementoftheLaw,c.1900–1939 45
4 PolicingtheNewAgeofMassMotoringc.1940s–1970:
MotorPatrolling,toQCars,ZCarsandUnitBeatPolicing 86
Part II Engineering,EducatingandChannelling
RoadSafety
5 EngineeringtheEnvironmentc.1900–1970:Congestion,
MetersandRedefiningtheUrbanLandscape 129
6 TrafficAccidentsandRoadSafety:TheEducationofthe
PedestrianandtheChild,1900–1970 149
Conclusion 186
Appendices 190
Notes 195
Bibliography 224
Index 230
vii
Tables
1.1 MotorvehiclesinuseinBritain,1919–1966(000s) 2
1.2 DeathsandinjuriesonBritain’sroads,1919–2012 3
3.1 Selectedoffences(permillionofpopulation) 55
3.2 HomeOfficeExperimentalMotorPatrol
Scheme,1938–1939 56
3.3 PersonskilledandinjuredintheLancashireCounty
PoliceDistrict,ApriltoMarch1937/8and1938/9 72
3.4 AccidentstochildrenintheLancashireCountyPolice
District,ApriltoMarch1937/8and1938/9 72
3.5 Casualties(deathsandinjuries)per1,000ofthe
populationintheLancashireCountyPoliceDistrict,
1932–1938/9 73
3.6 Roaduserskilledorinjuredintheareacoveredby
LancashireCountyPolice 73
3.7 Seriousmotoringoffences,1931–1938 76
4.1 TrafficwardensinEnglandandWalesandthe
MetropolitanPoliceDistrict,1962–1965 95
4.2 FixedpenaltynoticefinesissuedbytheMetropolitan
Policein1963and1964 95
4.3 TheadditionaltrafficwardensprojectionintheWorking
PartyReportonTrafficWardens 96
4.4 ArrestswiththeQ-carsystem,1958and1960 104
4.5 Theenforcementoftrafficlawoffencesrelatingtomotor
vehicles,1961–1963 116
4.6 DrinkdrivingstatisticsforEngland,ScotlandandWales,
1966–2011 123
5.1 Trafficgrowth,1962–1980 141
6.1 Roadaccidentsinthe1920s 153
6.2 TrafficdeathsinLondon,1922–1929 154
6.3 Roaddeaths,1938–1946 167
6.4 Roadaccidentsanddeathsofunder-5s 172
viii
Preface
The advent of the automobile exerted revolutionary change on British
societyinthetwentiethcentury,andthisbookexaminesthisinrelation
toBritain’sroadsbetween1900and1970.Therearetwocentraldebates
thatdrivethisbook.Thefirstisconcernedwiththedecliningdemocracy
oftheroadinthefaceof‘thenewformofexpresstrain’,theautomobile.
Theseconddebate,andthecentralfocusofthisbook,istheroleofthe
police in controlling the road. This book suggests that the democracy
of the road was bound to decline, as the motor car drove the pedes-
trian, and other road users, off the road – for motorised vehicles were
indomitable and unforgiving killing machines and this implied neces-
sarysegregation.Asforthepreciseroleofthepoliceinthisprocess,and
the extent to which they were complicit in the rise of the motorists,
this book suggests that they sought to act in an impartial manner in
enforcingthelaw,althoughtheywerenotalwayshelpedbythemagis-
tracyandthecourts,andthattheywerenotthepartialservantsofthe
motorists. They adopted a three-part strategy: the three Es of Enforce-
ment, Engineering and Education. In the first of these, their essential
sphereofinfluence,thepoliceactedasarbitratorsoftheroadandsought
toenforcethelawoftheland,despitetheoppositionofmotoringlob-
bies and the failures of the courts. They thus performed in the style of
Gatrell’s concept of the ‘policeman state’ – the notion that the police
have always sought to apply the law impartially. In the case of the
Engineering and Education, their influence was much more marginal,
for they were dependent on local authorities and planning authorities
forthefirstofthese,andinfluencedgreatlybyvoluntaryorganisations
such as the National ‘Safety First’ Association (NSFA)/Royal Society for
thePreventionofAccidents(RoSPA)withregardtothesecond.Indeed,
in Education, their work was very much focused on dealing with the
pedestrian and the child. In the end, though, police sought to be
even-handed, with Enforcement largely composed of the rules of the
roadappliedtomotorists,andEngineeringandEducationmoregeared
towardssavingthelivesofpedestrians.Thestrategyworkedandtheroad
holocaustwasfinallydefeated.However,thiswasachievedthroughthe
necessary restructuring of British policing and the segregation of the
pedestrian.
ix