HINTS FOR THE MOTORIST

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LX, Issue 11134, 8 June 1933, Page 4

HINTS FOR THE MOTORIST

SKIDDING HAZARDS ON SLIPPERY ROADS

Lack of positive wheel adhesion to the road surface, with its resultant tendency for a ca.r to slew and skid and for brake effectiveness to be reduced. is universally recognised by drivers as a condition always to be guarded against on highways covered with ice, snow or sleet, but it is not so generally realised tha 1 very dangerous deficiencies in adhesion result from other road conditions not caused by cold weather. A smoothly paved street, lightly covered with tine dust which has just been moistened by the first tine dr op 15 of a rainstorm or by fog, develops a slippery coating upon which the control of a car can very readily bo lost, when turning a sharp curve or when brakes— especially the two wheel kind—are violently applied. Wheels also slip in braking, miking stopping far from prompt, as '-he paste of moistened dust Is altogether too good a lubricant. Unmade roads, especially those of clayey material, when wet, are extremely treacherous, and any attempt to turn too sharply or to brake a car on winding downgrades is likely to prove disastrous. Freshly tarred roads which have not been properly sanded are so slippery that a car entering upon a stretch that has been so treated, is very likely to get out of control.

There is another seasonal road condition, which is potentially very risky, that arises at this time of the year, when leaves have fallen from the trees. Masses of leaves when moist, and particularly when covered with frost, are extremely unctuous and afford the tyres but slight adhesion, ma.king slewing at turns very likely and greatly lengthening the distance in which a car can be stopped with safety. It is not unusual for a car to become stalled if one of its wheels is down in a gutter filled with moist or frosty leaven. Especially in foggy weather or when a light rain has fallen, leaves create a real hazard which has been responsible for many serious accidents, and motorists are warned against too great speed at turns and too energetic use of the brakes on roads strewn with fallen foliage. Juvenile Pedestrians. Although sometimes it seems an unwarranted assumption, the adult pedestrian is supposed to know how to guard himself against traffic dangers and to exercise a reasonable degree of earn, but it is the motorist's imperative duty to safeguard the pedestrian in every possible way. The case of the child is very different. for he is not supposed to have the judgment to keep out of danger on streets and, roads, and the full responsibility for safeguarding his life and limb falls upon the mptorint. The child is irresponsible, too often unconscious of danger, completely absorbed in his play, and subject to childish impulses which impel him to dart into the street without an instant’s warning. All the burden of protecting him from his own wayward actions falls inevitably and solemnly on the shoulders of the grown-ups who operate vehicles.

ALBERT L. CLOUGH

Children will always choose the c feots to play on, despite parental care and any number of playgrounds provided for them. They will chase balli? into the midst of traffic, utterly ignoring danger, and it is the duty of every driver in operating his car where children are known or suspected to be, to keep it under such a degree of control that they cannot he hurt by it, no matter what deadly chances they may take.

Safeguarding the adult is a case of divided responsibility, but there is no ruch thing as sharing the responsibility with the little ones. The responsibility rests with the driven? of cars, and it must not be taken lightly. The vicinity of iwhools and playgrounds and the poorer residential sections of towns and cities are danger zones, and the hours when children a.re out of school are the periods when greatest care ir, required. Children are not only in danger when on foot, playing on roads and in yards, hut are in even greater peril when on bicycles or ■scooters or when coasting in toy carts. A child riding a bicycle with another on the handle bars, and boys and girlr, roller skating on the street are also particularly to be looked out for. "Laying-np” the Car. W. P. P. writes: I have a 1930 car and expect to put it into storage for the winter. Please give me instructions for doing this properly a.nd inform me whether, if therm are followed, a lay-up of six months would prove harmful to the tyres, battery or the car in general.

Answer: Jack all four wheels off the floor. Remove the battery to a battery service station to be inspected and maintained. Block the clutch peda.l in its disengaged position. Draw off all water from the cooling system, making sure that none remains by running the engine for a few moments after water ceases to drip out. Put frefill oil in the crankcase and inject a tablespoonful of oil into each cylinder through its sparking plug hole. Protect bright parts from corrosion by giving them a light coating or vaseline and place a dust cover over the whole car.. Tyres and batteries deteriorate somewhat by age but the car as a whole should not be damaged by laying-up if the above precautions are taken. When the Radiator is Clogged. S. H. M. writes: By the way in which the water in my 1930 ——car boils, I (inspect that the radiator is clogged to some extent. How can I tell whether or not this is the case? Answer: Try the following: Detach the lower hose connection at the radiator, plug its open end and supply water to the radiator fillet - opening from a garden hose. If water escapes in a full-sized powerful'stream from the radiator outlet it is pretty good evidence that there is no serious clogging, but if it escapes rather weakly when the radia.tor is completely filled, it is partially clogged. Also try thin; Start the engine rfrom cold and let it run idle. Keep feeling the radiator front and note if all parts of it warm up equally fast. If there are certain areas which keep cool after others have warmed, these may be suspected to be “dead spots,” through which water does not circulate properly because the passages in them are clogged.