MOTORING

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20315, 14 August 1931, Page 6

MOTORING

J BY " ROADSTER." "Roadster" invites articles and paragraphs of interest to motorists for this page. LEFT SIDE OF ROAD. '1 he approach of the touring season makes it appropriate once more to draw attention to the necessity of observing the rules of tho road. In general there is ample room for all to travel on our roads without danger, but unfortunately there are many motorists who are not 100 ready to give way to others. It is their habit to drive along the centre of the road, thereby making the highway in effect; some yards narrower than it actually is. It is remarkable how many accidents arc caused through disregard of this rule, which every motorist knows well, being the first one taught to him when ho is being shown how to drive. Generally the rule is carefully observed in the towns, but on reaching the. country many motorists appear to think that there is no need to continue alertness in this respect and accordingly become careless. It is well also to remember that the speed limit across city intersections is fifteen miles per hour, and that even at this rate accidents occur too frequently, so that wherever the view of a cross road is obscured the car should always be driven at a speed at which it is under control. Another rule worth remembering is that one should never drive at a high rate of speed over a road which is unfamiliar. ROAD ACCOMMODATION AND SPEED. The following interesting calculations have been made as a result of investigations by the traffic committee of the American Eoad Builders' Association:— At 23£ miles an hour the number of moving vehicles that can pass over a given line drawn across the street per hour is a maximum. Above or below this speed the number of cars that pass the line per hour is less. If thfe cars have an average length of 14ft and travel at only 5 miles an hour they need only keep sft apart, and thus 1380 will pass the line in single file. If they run at 10 miles an hour and are fitted with four-wheel brakes the distance between them must be increased to lift. In this case 2100 cars cross the line. Proceeding in this way it is found that the maximum number of 2600 cars an hour is attained when the speed is 23$ miles an hour. At a speed of 45 miles an hour only 1760 cars pass the line every hour, which is practically the same as tho number that would pass at a speed of seven miles an hour, which with the modern type of enr would be an uneconomical speed. BETTER VENTILATION. Only by comparing current practice with the past can the rato of progress properly be measured. Unfortunately, the memories of motorists are so short that they are apt to accept the excellencies of modern cars as a matter of course, while quite forgetting the drawbacks to motoring which were once commonplace. Applying this line of thought to the matter of comfort in hot weather, the "Motor" states that it "will generally be admitted that a considerable advance has been made. This is the more creditable when it is remembered that during the past few,years more and more powerful engines have been fitted and naturally the greater the power developed for a given efficiency the greater also is the power dissipated in heat to the exhaust and the water cooling system. In the majority of modern cars the insulation provided by the dashboard and the floor, tho removal of the exhaust pipe to the front end of the engine and tho adoption of special fume eliminating devices have made it possible to drive on a hot day without suffering from engine heat or impure •air. It is still, however, somewhat difficult to provide a sufficient degree of ventilation in saloon bodies. to satisfy the craving for fresh air which is felt so keenly in oppressive weatlier. Many good ideas await development in this connexion, and in all probability considerable progress will bo made during the next few years. NOTES. It is hoped that the formation ofl the nevr marine drive from Charteris Bay to Diamond Harbour will be completed in about three months' ti-'e. After that the road will have tlf be metalled. A close observer of traffic conditions in the City told "Roadster" this week that it was his opinion 'that there were many less private cars on the roads between Christchurch . and the Riccarton and Addington courses this year than was the case last year. He had, he said, noticed a good many people who usually drove to the races or trots in their own cars going out this week in taxis. * - • Work is to be commenced after this week's races on the section of the Main North road leading to the southern approach to the Waimakariri bridge, Mr T. Pheloung having secured the contract to lay down a concrete pavement. Tho length of the work is about 1£ miles, and it is expected that the job will be completed by about waristmas. As tho winter has resulted'in tho northern approach to the bridge being consolidated, it is not improbable that a contract will shortly be let for the paving of this portion of the road at ail early date. Mr H. Morrison, tho Minister for •Transport, is very proud of the new Glasgow and Edinburgh road (states the "Weekly Scotsman"), and he certair' ought to oe, in the knowledge that every linear yard of the 40 miles has cost over £32, or nearly £1 an inch. ' The total cost runs ont to well over 2£ million pounds, so that motorists who traverse this road uiay pride themselves on running over a highway of gold—or its equivalent. The provision of an ideal surface has not been the only item in tho cost. In no part is the gradient more than 1 in 30, although the road goes through hill country, and on one stretch it runs on the top of an artificial embankment 80 feet high. This is ono of the visible marvels of the road. The invisible ones ---» not less jmarkable in the v way of ground supports, whero mining subsidences arc likely, and, culverts to allow streams to pass under tho road. The largest of these is 325 feet long, with a width and height of about 21 f\<et to provide a passage for the Calder river. / Backed by prominent business men, an organisation has been formed with the object of promoting the motor industry in Japan. The organisation hap in view the unification of the automobile manufacturing business in Japan, the development of automobile insurance, revision of the motor-car tariff, and the reduction of excessive motorcar taxes.

BY "ROADSTER."

A precedent ha 3 been set in the matter of obsequies for defunct automobiles. It is quite the common practice in the United States to tow the faithful old car to a lake bank and push it gently over, but this procedure will have i. Cresting variations in the future if the example of Dr. Francis Pearse, of Old London, Canada, is followed. Dr. Pearse had a car which he bought nearly thirty years ago and which served him faithfully until 1927. When it came time to part with it, he felt toward it as he would have felt toward a faithful old liorso that had grown old iu service, and'so he actually had it buried in a real grave. Dr. Pearse bought a plot of ground near a cemetery. Then he drove the obedient old bus through the city streets to the burial jdot and finally had it broken up and decently interred. In purchasing rubber goods it would be well to remember that there is not a rubber expert in tlio world who would undertake, simply by looking at it, to say whether or not an article of rubber manufacture was of good quality. The reason for this is that the (shoddiest kind of rubber product cnu bo made to look just like a high-grade article. A tyre that would blow to smithereens in. ten miles can be made to look as one that will stand up for twenty thousand miles. With all this opportunity for fraud tho only safe course for a buyer is to patronise a reliable dealer or to buy goods which bear the trade mark of a responsible manufacturer. Automotrice is the name which French have fastened on their new seif-propelled ears. Tho automotrice i-; really a six-cylinder motor-bus on rails. It has the appearance of a street car. contains 34 Feats, and can average about 50 miles an hour. The railways are using the new conveyance to link up cities and towns on secondary lines where use of regular trains is not justified by the passenger business. An authority in an English newspaper writes: "I hear that Mr Henry Ford, in order to ensure a supply of raw materials for his motor factories in this country intends to acquire some iron and steel works in South Wales. This is good news for an area v.-hich has been hit hadly bv the industrial depression. He has, I am told, already agreed to purchase a galvanised sheet works at Briton Ferry, ono the many industrial villages between Cardiff and Swansea, and he is negotiating for the acquisition of an iron and steel works in the same neighbourhood. The concern in which Mr Ford proposes to interest himself will employ several hundred men, and there •s immediately available an ample supply of skilled men waiting and anxious to work." Ono of tho many' unusual refinements of equipment which attract much attention in Packard cars is a leading light on the dash. It is said to be an important oonvonienco in night driving, especially in tho country whero maps hare to bo consulted a.s a car progresses along the road Tho lamp lights automatically when it is pulled out from the dash and is automatically extinguished when put back in place. It is located just to the left of the dash compartment in \Vhieh maps are usually kept. It is not connected in any way with tho lights which illuminate the instruments on tho dash. TUESDAY'S HOLD-UP. DETAILS OVERLOOKED BY V DRIVERS. ''When the traffic inspectors of the Cliristcliurch City Council and County Councils nearby co-operated on Tuesday in a 'raid' on motor-vehicle drivers, they found many not in possession of their licenses to drive, and the happening to one of tho little motoring details we are apt to overlook," says tho secretary of the Canterbury Automobile Association. "The Motor Vehicles Act is very explicit about drivers' licenses, which must be produced on demand. It is an offence not to be in possession of

one's license when driving a motor vehicle The inspectors take a lenient; view of things, and make sure that a delinquent reports in due course at the office with the license which had been left at home. This business of reporting at the office is inconvenient sometimes, and it 'is clear that attention to this little detail may save a lot of trouble. "Other small but very important details which are irvariably overlooked in the routine business of tho day may be mentioned in addition to the carrying of one's license. Every motorist should note down in his pocket book the chassis and engine numbers of his motor-vehiclo, and also the number of the car. Tho chassis and engine numbers will be very helpful if the vehicle is stolen Moreover, they prove very liseful when re-registration time comes round. It seems absurd to suggest noting down the car number, which is also useful if the vehicle is missing, but it is a fact that scores, perhaps hundreds, of motorists cannot quote off-hand tho numbers of their motor-vehicles. It does not help in the quick recovery of a car if a man does not know its number, and reference has to be made to official documents before the number is known." A tax of 4d a gallon on petrol represents £400,000 a year in the running costs of the London General Qmnibus Company.