CUM GRANO SALIS

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 5, 7 January 1928, Page 8

CUM GRANO SALIS

A motorist who has returned from a trip abroad gave one of the Wanganui papers some of hia impressions regarding motor regulations as he had found them in various places. Among the rest he particularly eulogised the "offside" rule, which has been made of universal application in France under all conditions. Apparently he is not fully aware of the position in France. So far from tho experts being all pleased with the effect of the rule there is serious misgiving about it. It is quite commonly blamed at the present time for a big increase that has taken place in the proportion of accidents. Unless corners are clear it is obvious that a motorist coming from hidden lanes and narrow roads into the path of fastmoving vehicles must run considerable risk. The motorist said that the rule made driving easier, "as one had only to watch one sido of the road." Experienced drivers cannot bo' misled by a statement of this sort; its fallacy is apparent on the very face of it. The motorist added that, "when he was in London Major Segrave, the world's record-holder as a fast motorist, was warned for going too slowly and impeding traffic." Nothing of the kind. This is simply spoiling a good story told by "The Motor" a year or more ago. What happened was that Segrave—who was quite unknown to the policeman— when crossing Piccadilly Circus, or some such place, got an ironic call: "Hurry up, Slow-coach!" The story could onlyhave come from Segrave himself, but it was retailed by the journal as proof of careful driving on the part of track speedsters when normally at tho wheel, and not as an example of the need of speed in London streets. It is quite time that London traffic has to be expedited ns much as possible to clear its busy intersections, but it should be borne in mind that this docs not mean speeding. It is a question more of a quick get-away, than speed in the ordinary sense. Segrave is one of the very last men to deliberately run a risk of accident ou the King's Highway. That was "Tho Motor's" point, that the great masters of tho wheel are not harem-scareni drivers, but men fully alivo to tho risks they take in a race, and as fully alive to the necessity of care when driving elsewhere. Quito a number of tho best racing drivers—even the great French drivers—have been proved to be of the most careful typo under ordinary conditions. Another point is worth clearing-up. There is a definite speed limit ia England, applicable always and everywhere by law of tho land. That limit is 20 miles an hour. It is much ignored by drivers—quite naturally—and almost equally ignored by the authorities. But a steady campaign has been carried on for years by a large section of motorists to get rid of tho restriction, the.

complaint being that it is used by some local authorities as a ready means of obtaining revenue, tlio local authorities benefiting from the fines imposed. One must, however, beware of propaganda. Tho campaign has had no success. Traps continue to operato in many places, and prosecutions and convictions follow. These traps are as a rule more justified than the New Zealand motorist is led to believe. Quite recently a paragraph went tho rounds hero that motorists were being harassed for exceeding the limit on a road purported to be of little consequence; it merely happened to be one of the great arteries leading away from Liverpool. Most rf the traps are in the environs of London, population seven to twelve millions. The truth is not that the twenty miles speed limit is considered to be wrong, but that "trapping" is recognised not to bo effective in punishing tho really dangerous speedster. It catches all speedsters alike, and license endorsements are now regarded more as "bad luck" than proof of bad driving. Those with the real interest of the motorist at heart are seeking not tho abolition of the speed limit, but a change in police methods. They desire to abolish the trap and have the patrol system instituted instead. The patrol can work with intelligence; the "trap" has none. Alterations to the meters on all London taxicabs were made during Novembor on account of new regulations requiring that the fare register should show 6d for the first two-thirds of a mile instead of 9d for tho first mile. Apparently the small cost involved in travelling by motor-car is making an important change in tho methods of tourists, states the "Poverty Bay Herald." Up to this year, campers at Morere have stayed for weeks at a time, but almwst without exception now the longest stay is not more than three days, whye most prefer to pitch their camp at night, and move on early next morning.