GIVING SIGNALS.

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20919, 28 July 1933, Page 7

GIVING SIGNALS.

EVIDENCE OF NEGLECT. CLEAR INDICATIONS NKCKSSARY "At the present time there is evidence of neglect and slovenliness on the part of motorists in giving direction signal:;, not only for other traffic, but for the inspectors on point duly," says the latest safety first message of the Canterbury Automobile Association. "The necessity for giving correct and exact hand signals for the benefit of other drivers must be obvious to all motorists who consider their own safety and that of others. There is a distinct tendency to selfishness in this direction, and it cannot be too thoroughly emphasised that if a driver intends to change his direction he should let the other traffic know of it. first by sounding the horn as a warning and then by giving a proper hand signal. Drooping a hand out of a window is not a signal. It means nothing at all to a following driver. It is the duty of every motorist to know the signals for stopping or turning left or right, and there is only one way of giving the signals. "Probably the worst siifTereir, through no signals or bad signals are the inspectors on duty at intersections. At irregular intersections it: is utterly impossible for the men on duty to interpret indefinite signals. If the turn is to be half-right hand or half-left hand, give the signal clearly and repeat it if necessary. Poor hsjid signalling confuses the inspectors and holds up other traflic. For an even-flowing traffic there must be perfect harmony between all the lanes of traffic. "Of late there have been several instances of failure to give signals, and the inspectors have ignored the offending driver until he has given the signal. All signals should be given outside, not inside, the vehicle. Because of the reflections, and the angle or dirtiness of windscreens, the inspectors cannot see signals .given inside cars, and in the darkness it is manifestly unfair to expect inspectors to see signals given by a hand wearing a dark glove. "If drivers show a little more consideration for each other and the inspectors in signalling, the roads will be safer, and traffic will move more smoothly."

INSTRUCTION BOOKS.

VALI h TO MOTORISTS. Every motorist who wishes to acquire a sound knowledge of the mechanism of his car should take care to see that when a new vehicle is purchased the manufacturer's instruction book is also supplied. Similarly, when buying a second-hand model, it is always desirable to enquire whether the vendor possesses an instruction book, and to ask that he hand it over with the car. The value of such books is that they epitomise the knowledge and advice of the manufacturers of the car, and, although there may be much similarity in different types of cars, there is usually some specific adjustment or warning specially applicable to the make and model of car purchased. Some instruction books are so comprehensive that they are useful as general guides to the amateur mechanic, but principally they should be treasured as comparatively rare and invaluable publications which reveal the full anatomy of the vehicle and contain authoritative directions as to what duties of lubrication, and maintenance must be carried out, and what special adjustments should be made. Even most experienced motor engineers value the instruction book as a help to them in their work of overhauling and repairing a car, and the request to the owner that he should lend the book to the mechanic who is to "vet" his car, far from being interpreted as an admission of ignorance, should be commended as a wise precaution. The most proficient expert cannot possibly commit to memor.y the timing, carburettor jet sizes, and other details of every make and model of car on the market, but the instruction book helps him to verify his own work and to avoid all risk of errors.

TRAFFIC PROBLEMS IN JOHANNESBURG.

Administer treatment too harshly and the cure sometimes kills, writes Emil Millin, in the "Sunday Times," Johannesburg. And to carry the metaphor a step further, without proper diagnosis little good may be expected from different doses of medicine taken from the shelf haphazardly. A patient's condition rarely responds to such treatment; often it becomes worse. Many motorists who read daily of this move and that move by Johannes--1 burg's traffic authorities are convinced that decisions unnecessarily harsh are being made without proper enquiry. They feel that a small skin eruption is being treated here and there without adequate investigation into the cause of the blood impurity, and that the medicine applied is doing no more than to irritate the patient. While the general principle of the necessity for traffic control is admitted, it is held that as little interference as possible should be suffered by the ratepayers. And in the recent tightening up of the parking by-laws such interference is suspected and is resented. The prohibition of parking in Eloff street, the threatened curtailment of recognised parking periods, lue closing of certain streets to through traffic at certain times, the plastering of the city area with notices and robots, the growing list of "dont's" tabled in the Council Chamber—all these things are combining to put up the backs of car owners. They see little in the traffic volume of Johannesburg to justify the multitude of regulations and prohibitions, and see only the free use of the motor vehicle being restricted until driving in the city area becomes well nigh impossible.

In the Austin Motor Company's Oxford street showroom the main windows are now of curved glass, the shape adopted eliminating reflections to such an extent that the cars in the showroom are clearly seen as though no window intervened. After a short trial the Brazilian Government has repealed a law making the admixture of home-produced alcohol to imported motor fuel compulsory. It was fo " nd . th^ t ; th^o^rnand and motorists showed a strong disinclination to use mixed fuel. Madrid is experimenting with an iron-surfaced road on a stretch of highway half a mile in length. If the scheme is satisfactory work will be provided for the unemployed and it P, honed the critical condition of the Iron and steel industries in Spain will be relieved.