FOOL-PROOF CAR.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 237, 6 October 1936, Page 18

FOOL-PROOF CAR.

NOVEL FITTINGS. APPEARANCE IN WELLINGTON. HUMAN FACTOR ELIMINATED. The fool-proof motor car is in Wellington. It does everything but answer one back. A standard model with some inconspicuous special fittings, it looks almost like any other car, but that just shows how one can never tell by appearances. Actions are what count, and this car acts in a way that suggests it almost has a brain.

[ Should the driver, for instance, go to sleep or perhaps faint at the wheel, the ignition is cut off, the brakes are applied, a bell begins to ring, a fan blows fresh air on to the collapsed driver and a jet of reviving vapour is squirted into his face. Professor Leone C. Galli, an Italian, who owns the car and who has designed the ingenious fittings which make all this possible, uses brandy as the reviving agent, but apparently that is not essential. One might use anything that is liquid, from water to champagne.

Professor Galli, an archaeologist with a flair for scientific inventions, has had his car, with most of its gadgets fitted, for two years. His idea is to_ promote road safety by eliminating the human factor from driving as much as possible. He has incorporated appliances into the ignition circuit of the car, all electri-

cally operated, to provide for many of the'contingencies which make for danger in motoring. ' - A "Mechanical" Driver. The most important feature is a large pad on a spring attached to the. front right-hand door of the car,, so that when the driver sits in the normal position his knee automatically and without discomfort depresses the spring, which is made light enough to act without the necessity of conscious effort on his part. It is when the knee 'is removed from the pad by the driver shifting his position—perhaps by fainting or perhaps by intention—that, in the words of the children's stories, the figure- works.

As soon as the pressure comes off the s knee pad, the whole series of operations t begins—the bell rings to 4 warn other traffic that something is wrong in the, vehicle, and also to attract attention from those who may be able to give assistance. The fan situated in the back of the car starts to whirl and circulate its stream of cooling air,-and the jet of brandy begins to play from the ■ dashboard on to the face of the driver to revive him. ■ If the driver, having 1 collapsed, does not respond to treatment, ■no harm ; is done to him or to anyone ; else/ because, while all this has been going on, the' ignition has been switched off and the brakes applied, so that the car is stationary. Thus absolute collapse of the driver automatically stops the car. A sleepy driver, whose knee pressure on the pad weakens, is awakened by the ringing of the bell, and can continue on his way with all his senses alive again merely by restoring the pressure on the pad with his knee. A slow-acting driver, faced with a difficult situation, would hardly need to act at all because relaxation of the pressure on the pad stops the car. Indication of Speeds. Professor Galli considers that his ideas could be incorporated in a car during manufacture at a comparatively small cost, but it would have to be done in the factories as part of the original construction of the vehicle. His devices include another, working by synchronisation with the speedometer. Lights on the dashboard show when the .speed rises above certain limits. On the roof are two signal arms operated ill association with the speed lights on the dashboard. When the speed get above 30 miles an hour the right-hand one, coloured yellow, rises. When the speed is increased to over 40 miles an hour the left-hand one, coloured green, rises. By this means approaching or following traffic is warned of the speed of the car. Incidentally, of course, so are traffic inspectors and policemen. The professor considers, however, that if all cars had some such fixture announcing their speeds to those inside and outside the. vehicle there 'would he less speeding and consequently fewer, accidents.