Panel-beaters Report Less Damage To Cars

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31256, 31 December 1966, Page 12

Panel-beaters Report Less Damage To Cars

Christchurch panel-beaters and breakdown services say there seem to have been fewer accidents in and around the city this Christmas. Some suggest it may be because the bad weather kept many motorists at home. Breakdown firms have been busy, but not as busy as they were last Christmas, and say there appear to have been fewer serious crashes.

Only a few panel-beaters are open—most will not reopen until about January 16. Many accidents have been bumper-to-bumper collisions caused by following too closely. Most firms are concentrating on getting motorists back on the road so that they can return home—leaving mudguards off wheels, “and that sort of thing,” one said. Most firms expect to be very busy when they reopen in January when local drivers

bring in their cans to have holiday dents and scratches removed. Automobile Association (Canterbury) service officers have been fairly busy with breakdowns, which have ranged from broken axles to faulty ignition systems and flat batteries. The officer on duty during the Christmas week-end attended about 30 breakdowns in the city area. Home-made trailers in an unsafe condition had been reported on Mid-Canterbury and South Canterbury roads over the holiday, said the Senior Traffic Officer W. J. Tait, of the Transport Department in Christchurch. Some trailers had not been properly adjusted for towing, and some small cars were towing trailers and caravans much too big for them. Mr Tait said there had been several reports of cars towing caravans following one behind the other. This made it hard for other traffic to get past, and made drivers impatient.