SHE SAYS...

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31983, 9 May 1969, Page 9

SHE SAYS...

It is not hard to put a parcel on the roof of the car to free your hands for unlocking the door, and then to forget you have left the parcel there. Handbags and spectacles are also sometimes left on car roofs and boot-lids, too.

I heard of one woman who noticed that the car ahead of her had a transistor radio wedged between the rear bumper and the bodywork. She had great difficulty in getting the other driver to stop, but when he did he was very grateful. When one comes from a store with arms laden, the parcels must be put down somewhere, so it is probably a good idea to form the habit of casting a glance over the roof and boot of a car before

you -get in if you are at all prone to leave things on the outside.

There is an easier way, of course. If you always put your parcels on the bonnet of the car instead of on the roof, you will immediately notice anything left there when you get into the car to drive off.

Again, a large shopping-bag, or the use of a supermarket trolley, makes it unnecessary to put things on top of the car while you search for a key. It is perhaps not surprising how often things are left on top of cars when you realise how few people look around a car, or even glance at it, before they get in and drive off. Consider the number of cars seen driving about with one door not closed properly, or with the filler-cap flap open, or the bonnet half unlatched. But I think most motorists have left something on top of a car at some time. My husband is an expert at losing sun-glasses this way. He puts them on top of the car when he gets out at a service station to check the oil or tyre pressures, and then drives off without recovering them.