MODERN MOTORING.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 272, 16 November 1926, Page 19

MODERN MOTORING.

WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST. In some localities the only place children can play and still be near home is on the sidewalk or in the street. If they play on the sidewalk they are likely at any moment to dash out into the street. Therefore, it is highly important that all motorists give more than ordinary attention to the child pedestrian whenever he sees children, who by any possibility can get in front of his car. Not all grown-up pedestrians, however, show a sense of caution that is developed to a degree so very much higher than that shown by children. They may have their minds concentrated upon something else and absent-mind-edly walk directly in front of a car. They may be just naturally careless. regardless of the reason unless motorists are very careful they are going to hit pedestrians at one time or another. The old idea of women and children first may well be applied to motoring, but not in the sense that it now seems to be applied. The practice now apparently is to hit them first. A good many of them do not survive to learn to be quicker next time in getting out of the way. The women and children first idea as applied on the. high seas, is that the weakest should be given the right of way. Pedestrians are not as strong as motor cars. They ■ can't move so quickly. They can't stand so hard a collision. They are weak and the rules of civilisation, to say nothing of courtesy, require that they be given the greatest possible consideration. After all the pedestrian is really no more careless than motorists. The motorist is merely a pedestrian behind a steering wheel and he will be just as careless there as he was when walking. As motorists become more careful, pedestrians will automatically become more careful because while they are driving they are impressed with the danger and they do not lose this impression while they are walking. If every motorist could be impressed ■with the importance of using more care in dodging pedestrians, it would be found that all pedestrians were using more care when walking. There are so many cars in operation now that there are very few people who at one time or another did not ride in motor cars and a very large number of people who are walking to-day may be driving tomorrow. Let the motorist do his full part and the pedestrian problem will very largely take care of itself. IMPRISONMENT FOR INEBRIATE DRIVERS. The - heavy penalties for drunken motorists, which have found favour with Kew Zealand magistrates, are being applied with some effect in Australia, says an exchange. Two years ago the drunken driver usually escaped with a fine of £2 to £5. The increase of offence was followed by" larger fines until the maximum of £100 was reached. Then terms of imprisonment were imposed. • This move has been duplicated in the Australian Courts. Licenses are also being cancelled. SOME ASPECTS OF CAR-OWNING. 2sow that motor cars are as common as lawn mowers and wheel barrows, there is as little distinction in owning one (says a writer in a sporting mood J. Anyone can drive a car. It is as simple as driving a horse. Car ownership no longer indicates that a man has money. It merely shows that he had money. When a person decides to go in for a car he soon learns to give pedestrians a sporting chance. His reserved strap in the tram becomes momentarily vacant and he assumes command of his own transportation system. For the first time he realises that the middle of the road is not the safest place for reading a newspaper, It was an old habit' of his. As he jams on his brakes to avoid collision with the loiterer he calls him the same names that motorists had addressed to him scores of times. When he arrives home he flicks specks of dust off his car with a silk handkerchief. If anything goes wrong with his car he soon learns to take it to the-nearest garage and ask, "What do; I owe you?" when je returns for it.' In time he learns to do little odd jobs of repair work himself. This stage usually coincides with the time when he is prepared almost to strike matches on the coachwork. Cars are too reliable for the average man to bother about the assimilation of text-book knowledge. As a body, medical men are the world's worst mechanics. While they are able to prescribe for heart, throat and eye troubles of the human being, the corresponding organs of the motor car are a closed book to them. A doctor maycure asthma but fail to rectify carburation trouble in his car. The Gilbert and Sullivan version of the life of a policeman is peculiarly applicable to present-day traffic control. The pointsman has become referee of the traffic game. Judging by the remarks that come his way, he is as popular as most referees. He holds up his hand, and vehicles come to rest on the line. Those in the rear finesse for positions. He lowers his hand, and the maelstrom advances. The players honk and hoot as tiough urging one another on to victory. Occasionally it happens that there is a smashing victory in which case a retreat of some kind is inevitable. But the game goes on. Civilisation demand? it. even though there may be spurt - work at the crossroads sometimes.