TRAFFIC SURVEYS

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 48, 24 August 1935, Page 30

TRAFFIC SURVEYS

_ Mr. W. H. Cameron, managing director of. the National Safety Council of America,' has advocated city traffic surveys with a view to adopting safety measures. , A glance at a list prepared from accident records, he said, would tell better than hours of. argument whether a Corner was really dangerous, and, if so, whether a traffic signal was the proper remedy. In 25 United States cities the National Safety Council found that not more than 60 per cent, of traffic signal installations had been followed by reductions in accidents. . • "The operation of an automobile," he said, "should be taught in every] high school. The competent youths can be taught correctly before.they are turned loose on the streets, while the hopeless drivers can be detected and labelled." : It is specially important in winter to keep the acid level well above the tops of the plates. . Cold reduces the voltage and capacity of a battery, and the reduced voltage may affect starting. Conditions, however,'quickly become normal when a charging current passes through the battery and the acid warms up. A sparking plug is an excellent guide to carburation. If its business end is black and sooty it is a sign of too rich a mixture. If it is white and parched it shows that it has been running very hot and that the mixture is probably weak. If the carburation is correct, the points should be grey-black in colour, without being actually sooty. If there are any signs of wet oil on the points or in the body, it is a sure indication that'too much oil is getting into the combustion chamber either due to worn piston rings and cylinder bores, worn valve guides in an over-head-valve engine, or to over-lubrica-tion. Plugs which do not show oil but which carbon up frequently indicate engine -wear-to a lesser-extent,