TEST SCHEME FAILINGS

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31658, 19 April 1968, Page 16

TEST SCHEME FAILINGS

ATTENTION in Britain has recently been focused on the shortcomings of the official vehicle-safety check scheme, which has now been in.operation for seven years. The scheme is the British equivalent of the New Zealand warrant of fitness scheme, and the law requires all vehicles more three

years old to be tested regularly by approved garages, which issue a certificate stating that the vehicle has passed the Ministry of Transport test. But now the British Minister of Transport (Mrs Barbara Castle) has threatened to take “the strongest possible action” against garages failing to carry out the checks properly. Ministry officials checked about 2 per cent of Britain’s 24,000 testing garages, and found 60 per cent of tests were not being done properly. Most of the faults were failures to make use of the correct testing equipment, Geoffrey Charles reports in “The Times.” Testers relied too much on their own judgment Why was the danger of this not foreseen when the scheme was first set up? Charles writes. In the first place, even in 1960, when 10-year-old cars were marked for testing, a $1.50 fee was barely sufficient to meet the garage’s costs. As time passed, the labour costs of garages went up, and the age at which cars had to be tested came down from 10 to seven years, and then progressively to three years.

Although British suburban garages now have to pay mechanics about $3.50 an hour compared with $2.10 in 1960, no increase has been made in the $1.50 test fee. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that many garages hurry through the test in 15 minutes. Now, however, the Motor Agents Association is negotiating with the Ministry of Transport for an Increase in the test fee, which may rise to between $2 and $3 a test. “An urgent and wide-rang-ing revision of the scheme is long overdue,” Charles writes. “It should certainly have preceded threats to those lagging behind.” Electric Car On Sale The Westinghouse Electric Corporation has now started deliveries of its two-seater electric car, the Marketeer. The car is powered by leadacid batteries, and has a top speed of 25 m.p.h. and a range of 50 miles. The batteries—which weigh 8001 b and have to be replaced about every two years —can be recharged by plugging a retractable cord into a mains plug.

Winter Checks Winter is very nearly on us, and if you have not already done something to ready your car for the weather we can expect in the next few months, you would be wise to do something straight away. Start from the ground up and have a look around the tyres: plenty of tread is essential for car control and quick stopping on wet and greasy roads. The brakes should be in good order too, for a grabbing brake can easily cause loss of control on a slippery surface.