A VERY TOUGH COURSE

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31782, 12 September 1968, Page 18

A VERY TOUGH COURSE

A very testing course has been drawn up for the drivers and it will be exceedingly difficult to negotiate the set tasks id the practical events without accumulating faults points.

The rigid and articulated vehicles will use the same course of seven obstacles, a separate course of four Obstacles having been designed for the truck and trailer combinations.

At no time during the course will the driver be able to leave his vehicle except to unhook and hook-up the trailer in the obstacles where this is necessary. For all reversing movements the rear windows in the truck cabs will be blacked out and all

manoeuvres must be done with the aid of a rear vision mirror only. In all of the three practical sections there is a task calling for the stopping of a vehicle in a smooth action within three inches of a painted line. For this task drivers will not be able to put their heads out of the cab windows to gauge the distance but must Instead do this inside the cab over the front of the engine cowling.

Tolerance in all the tasks Is small. In the parallel parking test, faults are incurred if the deck of the truck is off parallel with the kerb by more than three inches. Further faults are incurred in the docking exercise if either

the deck hits the rear barricades or if the rear of the deck is further than three Inches from the rear barricades. Time faults will be incurred for every 10 seconds taken over the allotted time for each course. For the rigid and articulated vehicles the allotted time is five minutes and for the truck and trailer section 10 minutes is allowed to complete the course. In the rigid and articulated sections the tasks are:—

(1) Manoeuvring the vehicle between one set of alley barricades. turning sharply and going between a second set. (2) Backing into a parallel parking bay.

(3) Backing into an alley docking platform. (4) Driving in a straight line with the left aids wheels between markers. (5) Weaving, in reveres, between a set of drums. (6) Weaving between a set of drums while going forward. (7) Stopping. Similar tasks art set in the trailer and truck section with the exception of the weaving and straight driving tasks which have been omitted. AU tasks have special conditions attached to them, which, if not complied with, carry faults points. All stopping and repositioning of a vehicle while carrying out a manoeuvre also carries faults points.