Auto Gossip

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32565, 26 March 1971, Page 17

Auto Gossip

by

A .J.P.

Old smoky On the whole, I think the legislation we now have on exhapst smoke has led to a reduction in the number of cloud-trailing vehicles on the road, but there are still some bad examples about. Trucks are -usually the worst offenders, and the worst trucks seem to be stock-trucks. On the Main South Road early this week I came across the worst case I have seen for a long time: a sheep-truck which was putting out such a smoke-screen that it was almost impossible to see through the smoke and judge if it was safe to overtake. You simply could not see through the thick black cloud that the exhaust poured out on the truck’s right-hand side. I hope a traffic officer spotted the truck before it reached its destination. Petrol costs It is interesting to see the drop in petrol consumption which has occurred as a result of the increased price of petrol. This happens whenever petrol prices rise, and sometimes it takes many months for consumption to return to “normal”, if there is such a thing. In the meantime, drivers become very conscious of petrol economy, although many probably have little accurate idea of the mileage their car returns. Most of us could save a great deal of petrol if we drove more gently, with less hard acceleration and hard braking, and kept our cars in a correct state of tune. A good tune-up can improve fuel consumption by as much as 10 per cent, which can soon pay for the cost of the tuneup. A petrol-price rise sometimes has an effect on the sales of second-hand cars, too —people start to shy away from biggerengined cars which use more fuel. I often think this is probably a doubtful economy, just the same, for it is repairs that really cost money, and I would rather have a 20 miles to the gallon model which was reliable and long-lived than

a 40 m.p.g. car which needed a major overhaul at regular intervals. Windscreen cover

How does your insurance company react if you have a broken windscreen? If you do not know, you would be wise to find out, because company attitudes differ. Some will only pay out on a broken windscreen at, the cost of your no-claim bonus, so it may not be worth claiming. Others will pay out without it affecting the no-claim bonus, while others offer a special windscreen cover for a couple of dollars a year extra. Windscreens these days can be very expensive, so it is well worth keeping this in mind when “shopping around” for cat insurance. Narrow seal In the country, narrow sealed roads, on which one or both cars must take partly to the shingle verge when there is oncoming traffic, are responsible for many broken windscreens. Because of this and the number of motorists who manage to get into trouble when moving into shingle from the seal and back again, I

cannot agree with those who say it is better to seal four miles of road to a width of 12ft than two miles to 24ft. I think a shingle road is safer than a 12ft seal any time, not least of all because most people treat it with respect. On a narrow seal, they are usually going faster than is wise when they pull into the shingle. But even if they are not, flying stones are inevitable.