MOTORS and MOTORING.

Dominion, Volume 18, Issue 271, 21 August 1925, Page 6

MOTORS and MOTORING.

(BY

"SPOTLIGHT."

YOUR GUEST FREE TO SUE YOU

SOME POINTS ABOUT MOTOR INSURANCE OUR FARCICAL, POLICIES. Few motorists realise that in offering people rides, in their cars they are undertaking a liability .should accident occur. This liability is not accepted by the local insurance companies,, for it is expressly excluded in the socalled ‘'comprehensive” policy issued by the insurance concerns doing business in New Zealand. Under the third party clause the companies by direction of the Underwriters’ Association accept liability in the following terms: — Accidental' bodily injury (including loss of life) to. any person other than a person in the insured’s household or service, or driving or being conveyed in such car. This means that if In an accident a guest in your car is injured he or she can claim damages from you and the liability is not" covered by your insurance policy. It is rarely such claims are made, but we have heard of a case some years back in Christchurch, we think, where a guest in a car succeeded in securing substantial damages from his host for injury in an accident. In the United States the guest hazard is stated to have developed into a real menace, and the "American Mo- 1 torist,” the official journal of the great American Automobile Association, warns its readers to be chary of whom they invite into their cars. Our Scanty Cover. The American motorist, however, is better off than the New Zealander, for the "public liability” clause in American insurance policies does cover guests of the owner up to a certain limit. Our New- Zealand insurance combine gives us less for our money in nearly every respect than is obtain- 1 able in other lands. In Britain, for! instance, third party liability is unlimited ; here it is cut down to £lOOO. In Britain the insurance company accepts liability for the whole cost of repairs after an accident .; in New Zea- , land the insurance combine thrusts on I the insured the vJhole—and often heavy —cost of taking “prompt steps to remove the car at his own expense to the nearest competent repairers, or to a railway station.” Finally, the combine caps everything by a clause on the back of the policy preventing the insured from suing in Court when a dispute arises as to the company’s liability under a policy. As a matter of cold, hard fact, the New Zealand motorist ‘is thoroughly skinned bv the insurance combine, which ought to be fought and compelled to give a better value for the high premiums . and rates levied for a ridiculously inadequate cover. A Vicious Arrangement.

A vicious nart of 1 the arrangement is that an insurance company, without appearing in the matter at all itself, can an insuied person to fight out a legitimate claim in Court after (Court in order maybe to take advantage of a legal point to dodge payment to an injured person or to a widow and orphans. The insured m such a case has either to forgo his insurance cover or bear all the odium of a despicable fight on technicalities, the insurance company being no party to the proceedings, though ordering and directing them from behind the scenes. Such a state of things should be impossible,

and would be, :f Parliament laid it down that in cases where there is insurance the company must be cited as joint defendant. The hundred thousand motorists in New Zealand should be strong enough to end the present back-door business in motor insurance. ...Guests to Avoid. However, to get back to” the guest problem. Here is what the “American Motorist” has to say: The motorist who comes to learn of the huge verdicts rendered by the courts in public liability suits, and who, accordingly, watches the pedestrian with even greater caution, is tapidly finding that some of his greater human hazards are right in the car with him. They tell him how nice he is to pick them up. They praise his car. They are so appreciative! But he never guesses that if anything happened and his guests were injured he would be in as bad a wav as though he were to run down a pedestrian.

“If anything happens,” the superoptimist tells himself, “my guests will simply recall that they got aboard of their own volition. They will appreciate that it isn’t my fault. They will take the event as a matter of circumstance and perhaps they will offer to share the expense of repairing the car ”

The truth of the matter is, however, that the guest is more likely to consult his lawyer and bring suit against the kind host who, though furnishing a comfortable car with all the modern fi ills, iorgot to furnish safety. Not all guests are willing to take what fate brings them because not all guests are tine friends of’the driver; and in all fairness to the people who accept invitations to ride with persons ot questionable grey matter and judgment it must be recorded that not all drivers are friends to their guests. The “guest problem” has reached a point where, in one case, the court ruled 1 that the driver is liable to the guest ! even if the collision occurs as a result of the' recklessness of the driver of the other car. You invite John Jones out for a ride and are liable for any injury he receives while riding in your car, regardless of Whether or not the party who runs into your car is to blame! The moral to be drawn from this is that it is wise to be careful in selecting one’s guests on a motor run ; to drive carefully at all times; and to avoid offering unknown people lifts nt times when driving conditions are adverse, as, : for instance, on n dark, wet night. This i is pretty inhuman, and the real way out, of course, is to battle for a decent insurance policy that, covers the liegitimate liabilities in the operation, of a car. New Zealand’s present “comprehensive” motor policy is a farce. A duty on imported motor-cars, amounting to about 350 reichsmark per vehicle, is to be introduced by the German Government. This duty is considerably’ higher than that on other imported products, but will be reduced in half-yearly stages to the normal tariff. It is hoped that the imposition of a high tariff will enable the automobile industry to catch up to foreign manufacturers The State Legislature of lowa (according to the “Motor”) has just ah olished a 30-year r old law which obliged a motorist to telephone ahead when approaching a town to the effect that he was coming along. The reason io, this was that owners of nervous horses might be warned in advance. It doe= not appear that the law has been en forced of late.

It is interesting to learn that the electro-magnet was invented a him • I dred years ago by William Sturgeon, a poor shoemaker, and for some time a private soldier in the Royal Artillery.

According to the latest figures the I number of driving licenses issued in France is 231,261, an increase of 51,029 upon the previous year, and doubtless due to light car development.

BLOCKING BETTER ROADS

HEAVY FREIGHTS ON ROAD METAL MOTOR INTERESTS AFFECTED. Over a large area of the west coast districts of the North Island good road metal is practically non-existent. Local bodies in Taranaki, for example, have for many years past procured large • quantites of metal from the Hutt Valley, while the great inland area reaching from Ruapehu to Egmout and from about Marton to Te Kuiti still awaits the dawn of good roads To meet this situation Rangitikei County has spent £20,000 on a big quarry plant in the Rangitikei riverbed at Kakariki. Rangitikei is one of the largest counties in the North Island, with a big reading problem of its own. Mr. Sydney A. R. Mair, the county en--1 gtneer, in view of the general situation ' on the west coast, induced his county to put in a metai plant sufficient not only to meet the county requirements, but to supply local bodies all through the district witli first-class metal. Tins plant is situated a few miles from Marton, near Greatford, and is well placed for railage both to Taranaki and the Main Trunk. The stone is considered equal to the best in the North Island, and the plant is expected to have an ■ output running up to 200 cubic yards i daily. The opening ceremony of this important enterprise will take place shortly, on which occasion the Prime Minister has promised to be present if he can manage it. Just as Rangitikei is about to commence work the new railway . tariff comes into operation, .and the success of the venture is jeopardised by the revised freights on road metal. The . Railway Department, looking to its i own interests, as it rightly should, has j imposed two rates on road metal. The | lower rate is for "feeder” roads, and . the higher for "competitive” roads. I For all distances in excess of twenty i miles both the new rates are higher ! than the old tariff charge for road I metal. The difference between the ' old rate and the new feeder rate ranges from lid. per ton increase for 25 miles to Gs. per ton increase for 100 miles. Tlie competitive rate ranges from 7d. per ton increase for 25 miles to Bs. sd. increase for 150 miles, j ■ .'Vs a cubic yard of metal is treated ! las representing 1} tons, it will be ' seen .that the new charges are going ■ to bear heavily on the cost of railing i good metal for competitive roads. ' i As an example take the cost of laying a mile of new main road 18ft. I wide, with 6in. of metal. 'This will I require 5280 cubic yards, equal to 6600 ! tons, and the cost of railing that I metal 150 miles—the distance from the Kakariki plant to New Plymouth Breakwater or to Ohahukura on the Main 'Trunk line—will represent over £2700 more in freight charges per I mile of road metalled than under the present railway tariff. For shorter distances the new rates will not be so crushing!}' heavy, but thev are bi>” enough to make n hole in local body finance, and the extra charge for competitive roads is going to be' a serious handicap to better mam ’ high- ■ ways. lhe rates per ton for various typical distances compare as under:— New rates.

Exactly what is a competitive road and what is a feeding road is but vaguely’ defined in the new regulations. To secure the lower feeding route rates the

local body has to state the roads on which the metal is to be laid, and has to furnish a certificate from an authorised officer of the Public Works Department.

There appears to be no half-way house between a competitive and feeding route, and apparently if a road carries only 5 per cent, ot competitive traffic and 95 per cent, feeding traffic it will be treated as competitive. Thus take the road from Waitara to Te Kuiti. This has service cars running over it carrying passengers bound ironi Taranaki to Auckland, etc. If there were no service cars some of these passengers would travel by rail to Marton and then up the Mam Trunk. Thus, presumably, metal railed either to Waitara or Te Kuiti to be laid on any portion of this road would be competitive. Then take the Parapara Road from Raetihi to Wanganui, or the road to Pipiriki from Raetihi—so long as there is no through service these apparently would be feeder routes, but once a service runs through they become competitive

When the railways were laid down the engineers put the lines alongside the main roads, and it was by the action of the Department, and not of the counties, that road and railway in most parts of the Dominion run id parallel competing routes. The new tariff thus punishes the local bodies because they did not move their roads away when Lhe railway came. It is sound policy for the Railway Department to insist on a profitable rate on all traffic it carries. A system under which the Department carries certain classes of traffic at a loss and makes it up by charging other classes an unduly high rate, is vicious Where it is in tfjie public intefies'. that the burden on certain classes of traffic should be lightened it is much to be preferred that this should be effected by charging up so much per cent, of the freight against the traffic and the balance against the Consolidated Fund, etc This course should clearly be taken in the present < - ase. The new tariff as it stands will mean that the county councils will spend most of their money on by-roads, only doing absolutely necessary work on the main highways, which are nearly, all competitive roads. To meet the Htuation Rangitikei County has urged that half the Q rate should be charged, end the Public Works Department or tlie Highways Fund should recoup tlie loss to the railways each year. Ir tlie matter is left where it is it means a distinct set-back to the better roads movement. Some way out should be found. From the motorists’ point of view the position requires watching to see that this extra freight on road metal is not drawn in tlie end exclusively from motcr-tax revenue. This is becoming the customary solution of road problems nowadays, and it is necessary for motorists to be alert to get a square deal.

Great concern is felt at the serious . ro-don taking place at Lake' Rotonia, on tlie man highway from Whakatane >lo Rotorua.'- It is considered that the road at this point is a source of dan--er io motorists. The local bodies at Rotorua and Whakatane telegraphed to the Prime Minister drawing attention to tlie state of the road and asking for as -ustance, and a reply lias been received from Mr. Coates that he will be pleased to look into the matter and give the request every consideration.

A remarkable incident is recorded ; n connection with a race decided on Brooklands track, England, during a meeting at Whitsun'tide. The distance or the race was two laps of the track—about five and three-quarter miles-—in winch 10 of the fastest European cais Participated. One of the contestants, Major Coe, skidded whi.'e running at nearly 100 miles an hour, and the car, striking the outer retaining wall, rolled ever several times. Bv a mhaelc «n e driver escaped unhurt, while the mechanic was only slightly injured.

JOTTINGS Lighting-up time to-day, 5.44 p.m. Lighting-up time next Friday, 5.51 p.m. Hawke’s Bar County is not shining •in its road maintenance work. The "Hawke’s Bay Herald” says: “The part of the Hastings-Havelock North road a'innnistered bv the Hawke’s Bay Countv Council has for a long time been the subject of strong criticism by motorists and by the public in general. Its rough state and the manner in which it becomes almost daily more riddled with poriholes, are becoming matters of concern. Motorists experience the greatest discomfort in travelling over it, and the' numerous cyclists who have daily to use it, btoh going to and coming from business in Hastings, are put to great pains to pass safely over some parts of it.”

Nineteen motorists were prosecuted during last mouth for exceeding the speed limit in the Manawatu Gorge, and were each fined £5 and costs.

The Works and Sanitary Committee o' S'e Christchurch City Council reported on Monday that arrangements hui been mad.: with the Christchurch sCas Company for a contract for the supply of distilled tar over a period of four years with a minimum of 150,000 gallons per annum, the price being 9}d. a gallon. The contract was ratified pending the opinion of the city solicitor being obtained regarding the length of term.

The chassis import figures show that ■tile building of motor-car bodies is on a much smaller scale in Auckland than in the south, particularly in Canterbury. Tlie “Lyttelton Times” points out that, on the other hand, Auckland builders have secured the lion’s share of the work on freight vehicles and buses, states tlie “New Zealand Herald.” Duri” ■ the first half of this year 637 chassis for trucks, buses, etc., were imported bv Auckland, against 373 for the same Iperiod last rear, and 637 was nearly lialf of the Dominion total.

It is believed, says an American writer, that the time is coming when there will be 30,000,000 registered motorcars and trucks in the United States. There are now nearly 19,000,000. Thirty id lion—it is a big number, but it is no larger in proportion to the population than California has now. California has a car for every family. That does not 'n an that every family in California has a car. There are 24,000,000 owned homes in the United States. Most people who own their homes are of a type io want to own a motor-car.

In explaining the reasons for continuing the present motor number-plate system the Minister of Internal Affairs has written as follows to the South Island motor union:—“l may add for yout * information that representations recently made bv Mr. A. E. Ansell, chairman of the Otago Motor Club, that the English system might be adopted if there was an adequate examination by the police of motor vehicles as this would possibly result in a considerable saving of moneys which would require to be paid tor annual number-plates, but on inquiry I ■was advised by the Commissioner of Police that adequate examination by police officers would' cost considerably more per annum than the amount paid for the annual number-plates. It is therefore regretted that it is not considered practicable to adopt this proposal, but as indicated it has been decided to adopt the system of annual number-plates.”

The Hamilton branch of the Waikato Automobile Association has increased its membership from 59 to 210 during its past year. Dr. F. Pinfold has been elected president for the ensuing year.

'Hie roads in the Waikato are reported by the Auckland “Herald” as standing up to winter conditions very satisfactorily. An indication of their improved condition may be gleaned horn the fact that a number of motor vehicle owners, trading under one service name, now run daily between Hamilton and Te Kuiti, Hamilton and Cambridge, Hamilton and Te Aroha, ana Hamilton and Huntly, at fares which are less, in some instances, than second-class train fares.

The Main Highways Board informed the council of the Auckland Automobile Association on Wednesday that its programme ot construction in connection with the improvement of the notorious Matnaku Bush road between Tirau and Rotorua would extend over two years. Members of the council reported that while it Was necessary to use chains considerable improvements 'had already been effected where the surface had been spread with rhyolite rock.

The financial assistance recently ex* tended by the Auckland Automobile Association to the Manukau County Council to enable an experiment in road maintenance to be carried out on the Panmure-Howick road has evidently met with the appreciation of local residents. In a letter of thanks received by the A.A.A., the Pakuranga Ratepayers’ Association writes as follows:—“We approve of l your idea of a permanent surfaceman. If the Manukau County would see its way clear to continue and keep the road’ rounded up, it would save the ratepayers’ money to a large extent.”

Holiday motor traffic between Auckland and Taranaki was developed last summer by the opening of the Awakino Valley Road and during the coming summer it is expected (says the Taranaki “News”), the traffic will be much heavier. The ‘completion of metalling all the way from New Plymouth to Auckland provides a metalled highway from Wellington and repair work which has been carried out on the route during this year ensures a splendid motor road.

A film, "Play Safe,” has been shipped from America to Mr. J. S. Hawkes, secretary of the Canterbury Automobile Association, and should arrive in Christchurch shortly. The film is a warning against dangerous driving.

According to its organiser, Mr. Champtaloup, the Auckland Automobile Association, in addition to compiling regular road reports 1 is doing a vast amount of organisation in the Auckland district and is appointing road agents in practically every township of any importance. Here members will be able to acquire information on local conditions which might have changed since advice was given from the main office.

Miles. Competitive. Peeder. Present rate. s <1. s. <1. s. d. 15 9 3 1 10} 2 2 25 3 (> 3 1 2 2 50 5 8 4 9 2 10 75 8 7 6 0 3 9 100 10 4 6 11 4 4 125 12 0 12 0 4 10 150 13 9 13 9 5 4