FREEWHEELING.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20315, 14 August 1931, Page 7

FREEWHEELING.

ACTION IN U.S.A. Automatic free-wheeling lor motor vehicles, of a design which does not permit the driver to retain optional gear control of his car, will be prohibited in the thirteen States of America 'llie resolution against "100 per cent, free-wheeling" was prepared by Benjamin G._ lS.ynon, motor vehicle commissioner, of ' Pennsylvania. It reads as follows: "Resolved, That no free-wheeling device be allowed in tho States comprising the Eastern Conference of Motor Vehicle Administrators, unless it is of a design that gives the operator full control of all gears in all ratios as he desires." The interdiction is not aimed at those designs which permit quick changing from free-wheeling into conventional gear control. Opposition to "100 per cent." freewheeling is based, according toji statement issued by Harold G. Hoffman, New Jersey's commissioner of motor vehicles, on ttie point that ' rl'ie danger of coasting is accentuated by the fact that vehicles fitted with this type of free-wheel unit are not designed with that excess of braking capacity essential to safety."

TOWING A CAR. Although' breakdowns are not very frequent, or at least such as necessitate towing the car home,, there are one or two points which are worth mentioning lor the benefit of motorists who might be involved in such a happening. The driver of the towing car should remember to keep the tow rope tight at all times, for which purpose it will be necessary to use the brakes, unless, of course, a rigid tow bar is employed. On a decline the brakes should be applied frequently One of the_ best ways to secure the rope is to pass it through the dumb irons of the towed car to form a triangle, tho other end being secured through the off-side rear dumbiron of the towing car, or a triangle through both, as with the rear car. This method of hitching provides a central pull, and makes steering very much easier for the towed car.