Auto Gossip

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32166, 9 December 1969, Page 22

Auto Gossip

by

A. J. P.

Whose Fault? If you were driving along a street with angle-parking, and another car passed you, then braked and swung in front of you to enter a parking spot so that you had to make a crash stop, as a result of which the vehicle behind you hit you before he could stop, who would be to blame for the accident? I, and I think many motorists, would say the greater part of the blame should fall on the driver who irresponsibly passed you and then cut you off. But legally, it appears, the man who actually hit you is to blame, for being unable to stop in half the clear distance ahead of him. Not Theoretical The question, as you may have guessed, is not just theoretical—it outlines an accident ■ which occurred in this city not long ago. And the traffic officer called to the scene said the last driver was at fault' Legally, he was probably right but does the law line up with reality in such a case? Why should the driver who, by his own irresponsibility, created the accident situation in the first place escape scot-free? It might be argued that he could be allotted a share of the blame in a civil action, but surely this is another argument from a road safety point of view—and the safety aspect surely must be the raison d’etre for traffic laws. No-one would suggest that the driver who failed to stop was entirely blameless, but surely no-one could reasonably suggest that the driver who cut off the man in the middle and forced him to panic brake was blameless either. Interesting Attitude The attitude of the unfortunate fellow who managed to stop but then got hit from behind is significant—particularly as he is a man who Is rather proud of his wellkept car, and was naturally most upset at the damage to it. “I feel sorry for the poor bloke who hit me,” he said. “He didn’t really have a chance. That other fellow really set us up for it.” I know little of the law, but I suspect the man who cut the other off could possibly be

accused of careless driving, although it might be difficult to prove. Which is probably why he was not Not So Minor With at least one make of car, an apparently very minor fault can, I am told, have very expensive consequences —which underlines the lesson in an article on this page recently which said any engine noise means trouble, and must be investigated. In this particular make of car, the minor fault is a detached air cleaner. But the air cleaner tends to become detached because the bridge piece holding it on top of the carburettor is too weak, and tends to break off. And if it does break off, it soon manages to drop down through the carburettor and into the engine, with noisy and expensive consequences. If you have a car in which the air cleaner is held over the carburettor with a metal bridge piece, it might be well worth checking to make sure that the bridge piece is not cracked and showing signs of failure which might eventually let it drop down into the engine. Quote of the Week “If safety is an attitude Of mind, then humility is one of its main ingredients.”—The British Minister of Transport (Mr F. Mulley) on road safety.