Aid To Better Driving

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30822, 6 August 1965, Page 9

Aid To Better Driving

The Art and Technique of Driving. By Pat Moss and Erik Carlsson. 191 pp. William Heinemann, Ltd. The mounting road toll has focused attention on the < importance of driving skill. The driving test is just a start, and few drivers have access to any further form of training other than the school of hard experience and reading. This book, although written mainly with British ajnd European conditions in mipd, is very applicable to driving in New Zealand. Any intelligent motorist would benefit greatly, and be a much safer driver, if he or she followed the advice of the authors. An instructive work of this type could be extremely dull, but Pat Moss and Erik Carlsson, both well-known rally drivers, have made the book interesting and very readable. The volume contains much solid common sense. Although some of the sections deal, as they must, With fairly technical details, these are managed in simple language and terms well understood by the least mechanicallyminded. This is a vital feature in a

volume of this type, for it i must be readily comprehen- 1 sible to all readers. Although the work is written by two j drivers who have made their i names in motor sport, it is for ; the motoring public, not I merely the competition driver, i

can test their capabilities in these directions. Heaters, extra lights, comfort in relation to safety, and the importance of seat belts are all discussed. “We would like to see every saloon car driver and passenger wearing

portance is omitted. Skidding, tyres, gear-chang-ing and braking are all covered very fully, and much good advice is given. Reading the road, ice and snow and traffic driving receive similar treatment.

Throughout the book the emphasis is on road safety. The volume would undoubtedly be an asset to any motorist—new drivers or those who have been driving for years, and who possibly think they know all about it. It would also be valuable reading for road safety organisations. I have heard one person connected with traffic safety and administration say the volume does not apply to New Zealand conditions. This is definitely incorrect, as anyone who reads the volume carefully will quickly realise. —A.J.P.