BRAKE TESTING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 250, 22 October 1935, Page 5

BRAKE TESTING.

MOTOR VEHICLES. A SIMPLE OPERATION. NEW DEVICE EMPLOYED. With the object of lessening the risk of accidents through the use of motor vehicles with defective brakes, the traffic department of the Auckland City Council has arranged for an officer to make regular inspections of vehicles with the aid of the latest brake testing instrument. The testing with the new device was commenced last week, and it is intended that the officer shall devote as much time as possible to the inspections.

Under the old system of inspections a considerable amount of delay and inconvenience was caused motorists, but the new device makes the testing a very simple and speedy operation. The apparatus, which has a dial similar in appearance to a speedometer, is*clamped on to the dashboard or running board and is set level with the car 011 a level surface. This operation takes a few minutes only. The car is then driven at a speed of over ten miles an hour, and the brakes applied. The apparatus immediately registers the distance in feet in which the vehicle has been stopped, and also the percentage of efficiency of the brakes. It is not generally known, even among motorists, that under the Motor Vehicles Act a car travelling at 20 miles an hour is required to pull up in 40ft when the foot brake is applied, and in 75ft with the application of the hand brake. This gives an efficiency ill braking of 33 per cent.