MOTORING

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28671, 22 August 1958, Page 15

MOTORING

Vehicle Testing Station Gives Big Service For Small Cost

jyjANY motorists who begrudge' the time and effort required to obtain a warrant of fitness should some time reflect on the service that they get when they have their vehicles examined for a warrant They would find that for the very small sum of 5s their vehicles receive a check which, if carried out by a garage could cost them pounds. The motorists of Canterbury are fortunate in having in Christchurch a vehicle testing station which has served the province now for 20 years. This station opened in 1938, was the first of its kind in New Zealand and at that time the only one in Australasia. Standards Test

The value of the station is that all vehicles receive exactly the same check, and that the margin of error in the checks is* kept to a minimum for at the station modern machines are employed in all but one examination. Auckland. Wanganui, Timaru and Dunedin all have testing stations, but motorists living in other areas have to have their warrants issued by approved garages. The supervisor of the station (Mr C. E. Steer) said that many motorists living in country districts preferred to use the testing station when they were in Christchurch and thus receive a standard check, than use the garages. The equipment available at the station is not normally found even in the biggest garages. Headlights are checked on an octoscope, an instrument which can, if necessary, give the intensity of the beam as well as show the exact and correct headlight spots on the board. Another machine is used to check wheel alignment. As a vehicle rolls over steel plates a needle on the machine shows if the alignment is correct or is in or out If the alignment is faulty, the tyres will push one way or the other on the plates over which they pass and this “push” is recorded on the machine. Braking The braking machine consists of four steel plates. The vehicle is braked quite hard while on these and the degree of efficiency of the brakes is recorded on an 1 indicator. The indicator comprises four gauges, and a reading can be obtained from the red fluid which rises in the gauges as the brakes are applied. If all brakes are gripping well the gauges should show level readings. Hand and foot brakes are tested separately. Although cars pass through the testing station’s three lanes at a rate of one every two minutes, the examination is a comprehensive one which embodies 19 checks. On the average, 250 cars pass through the station each

day but in the busiest periods— November and December and May and June—the figure climbs to between 300 and 350 a day. Only a little more than half the cars that pass through the station each year pass all the examinations the first time. There are many rejects for one or more items and many vehicles have to be brought back two and three times before rejected items are passed as correct. Big Total

For the year ended March 31 this year, 66,543 vehicles were issued with warrants at the station. Of this figure, 36,840 passed the inspection on the first time through and 29,703 were rejected the first time. Many of these failed to pass a second test. One of the most important features of safe driving is a thoroughly reliable steering system, and although it is not the inspectors’ policy to reject an item because a part is a little worn, very strict attention is paid to the steering mechanism. It is here that the inspectors have found most weaknesses—in the ball joints, steering box, king pins, wheel bearings, rods, and wheel alignment. Last year 12,602 cars were rejected for steering defects alone—the biggest proportion of all rejects.

Because the hand brake is used so little, inspectors have found that in many instances the handbrake is not sufficiently efficient to comply with the Regulations, and this fault caused 11,446 rejections last year. Inefficient foot brakes brought 10,445 rejections last year, and inefficient headlights 9435. Warrants One of the most popular misconceptions by motorists is that the inspection card left with the motorist if his vehicle is rejected, acts as a warrant of fitness for the next 28 days. The card, however, is only an inspection card and does not guarantee immunity from prosecution or act as a warrant of fitness for 28 days, Mr Steer says. The testing station is a busy place and it is expected to become very much busier. The number of vehicles passing through it has been increasing annually by an average of 4000, and although the restrictions on car imports will probably cause a drop in this number in the future, an increase is still expected. The statipn is, however, wellequipped to handle the increase. Mr Steer believes that it can handle any capacity provided that distribution is even. The busiest day in the week used to be Friday, but this has now changed to Monday, and Friday traffic through the station has slackened off considerably. Between 1 and 2 p.m. can be the busiest hours of the day, for during those times many Of the 14 inspectors are at lunch and only a skeleton staff is retained.

THE CHRISTCHURCH CITY COUNCIL pioneered the vehicle testing station system for issuing warrants of fitness when in 1938 it built the big building in Lichfield street. Many other cities have since followed suit. These pictures show the building and equipment used in it. (1) A front view of the station—one of the most familiar buildings in Christchurch to motorists. (2) The wheel alignment indicator. This picture shows the indicator needle outside the limit for true wheel alignment. (3) The Octoscope, which is used for measuring headlight beam intensity and the correct heights and wides of the beams. . (4) The brake machine which gives an accurate indication of-the efficiency of brakes on each of the four wheels of a vehicle. (5) The visual check. In this picture an inspector is examining the rear suspension of a taxi, for which a stricter examination is required. x •