Auto Gossip

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31142, 19 August 1966, Page 9

Auto Gossip

by

A.J.P.

Headlining Several months ago I asked if any readers had an easy way of cleaning patterned plastic headlining, and one suggested using saddle-soap, which is sufficiently firm not to run down the arms, and drop into the hair and eyes when one is trying to apply it. 1 tried the suggestion only recently, and found the idea most successful. It seems best to make a sort of thick “soup” with saddle soap and water, and then apply this to the headlining with a soft brush. It can then be wiped down with a damp chamois, and finally dried with towelling, which gets into the pattern better than smoother material. The saddle-soap can also be used on upholstery. Look Out There seem to be many drivers about at present who never signal or look behind when pulling out from the side of the road. This is bad enough in the city, but is even worse on the open road, where I have encountered it several times in the last few days. Fortunately I regard cars parked at the side of the road with deep suspicion, and was able to avoid emergency situations, but the other drivers did not give other traffic much chance. And they looked so surprised when they realised there was other traffic on the road! Mental Approach It is all in the mental approach to the job of driving, and far too many Canterbury drivers seem to have it firmly fixed in their minds that they are the only persons using the road, so what is the use of signalling or looking in the mirror? The result is they pull out from side-roads, start overtaking, or turn off main roads without giving a thought to other traffic—until it near-misses them, when they mutter imprecations under their breath and fulminate against all the idiots on the road! This sort of driver will even make a U-turn on a main road without looking or signalling: a few weeks ago I had to brake hard to avoid a car making just such a manoeuvre. Hill Parking

A visit to Lyttelton brought to my attention again just how few drivers park correctly on hills, and place an inordinate amount of trust in their brakes. If you are parking on a hill you should not only apply the handbrake and leave the car in gear, but also turn the front wheels slightly in towards the kerb. Should the brakes fail and the gears not hold the car, it will merely nr a foot or two into the gutter, and not swing into the road and career to the bottom of the hill. In some American states it is an offence to park a car on a slope without turning the wheels towards the kerb. Bouquet Writing about courtesy between motorists and the officials with whom they deal has brought to mind the officers taking tolls at the entrance to the Lyttelton road tunnel. I have used this route frequently since the tunnel was opened, and have always noticed the unfailing courtesy and cheerfulness of the tollbooth staff. Quote of the Week “A big, slow vehicle in a town inevitably tows a traffic jam behind it. For that matter, so does a bus, but buses can hardly be kept away from town centres. Special traffic lanes fo- them are surely only a Utopian dream.” —from an editorial in “Autocar.”