MOTORING & MOTORISTS

Evening Star, Issue 19127, 19 December 1925, Page 16

MOTORING & MOTORISTS

[BY RADIATOR.]

LTGHTENG-UP TIMES. To-day 8.21 Sunday ... 8.21 Monday «. ... Tuesday 8.22 Wednesday ... ... ... 8.22 Thursday ... 8.22 Friday 8.23 PUBLICATIONS R ECETYED The ‘Highway Magazine ’ for November and ‘ Big Tree Bulletin ’ lor December. The ‘ Radiator ’ for December. CHRISTMAS GREETINGS. “Radiator” wishes all his readers the compliments of the season, immunity from mishap, good roads, and a good holiday. MOTORING IN AMERICA. A VISITOR’S IMPRESSIONS. Some terse and pithy _ comment on the habits of the American motorist were made by Mr Gordon Fraser, of Now Plymouth, on his return by the Aorangi from a visit to to an Auckland ‘Herald’ representative. Mr Fraser, who is chairman of the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce, motored many thousands of miles over the Californian roads. “In California,” he said, “there is a motor ear to every throe and a-ha)f people. I wondered why there should bo a fraction until I started across Market street, San Francisco, when .1 found the other half littered about waiting for an ambulance.” Mr Fraser spoke of a prominent sign ho had seen displayed on a motor lorry. It read: “A blind man drives this car!” “It seemed to mo,” was Mr Fraser’s comment, “to typify the kindly interest that is taken in the pedestrian in San Francisco. Courtesy to a fellow-driver seems long to have disappeared. If one is to progress on the road at all, every opening must bo rushed—-a full-speed dash when the gap comes.”

The side streets, ho added, were comparatively safe. The volume of traG tie was much like Queen street at 5 p.m., and the policeman on point duty would seldom whistle the fast traffic on to the pedestrian until the latter was at least half-way across the road. There were crossings whore the control was excellent, but the universal impatience and hurry soon affected oven the idling stranger, and it was a question of a disordered scurry that seemed to be responsible for an alarming crop of accidents. These were not viewed with indifference by the authorities, however, for brainy men wore constantly building slogans of warning. “There arc enough cripples born; why make more?” was the slogan that decorated every taxi of one well-known fleet. “ I was just reading one striking warning of this safety campaign,” said Mr Fraser, “when I had to take a living leap to avoid the morgue, so I cannot quote it with accuracy.” “Of course, these fleeting impressions are of the city streets. In the country you drive your car in a procession like an exaggerated funeral some hundreds of miles in length, but there is no corpse there—at least, not when the procession starts. _ “ Parents in America know better than to allow-their children to walk to school. They all drive their own cars, which may he seen parked round the classrooms 'by the hundred.” In California, ho continued, the driver was obliged by the State law to stop when he approached a level crossing, and look-out for the engine. The curious thing was that every driver aeinally obeyed the instruction, and invariably stooped his car whether there was an engine in sight or not. Mr Fraser’s chief impression of the Californian was that they drove with their feet instead of with their heads. The brakes were the only things between the pedestrian and the next world. P,OAF HINTS. CAIIF IX CORNMHIXC. Fvory year sees thousands of recruits to the ranks of drivers, many of whom have served no appreciable apprenticeship on slower vehicles, and are naturally destitute of road sense. Immense caution is therefore required from all, and an elementary grounding in the first principles of roadwork' must be acquired somehow by the unqualified motor cyclist. 110 will be told by wiseacres (hat ho must never travel so last that he cannot pull up within tho limit of vision. This ridiculous precont, though often exposed, is still freely accepted by tho stupid Jones in approaching a blind corner round which lie cannot sec. It is 40yds away, io fulfil tho above idiotic rule bo will approach it at a gradually decreasing speed, so that if necessary he can slop dead on the crook of tho bend, where Ins sight lino hits the cdge._ It sounds sago enough. All, but Smith is simultaneously approaching tho same corner from tho opposite direction, and is following the same silly rule. Tho probable result is that ho will come into collision heavily on tho corner. If a pull-up requires all tho road which one can see, what about the other Icilow who suddenly impinges into your bit of road? There may bo width enough for you both, or there may not. What if two other riders or a club party or a lorry or a motor coach suddenly appear? The plain fact is one must alwavs be able to pull up within half the distance that is visible; and even this contracted maxim supposes that the other fellow is also driving sensibly. —Where a Novice Goes Wrong.— Watch the average novice taking a corner. Ho is nominally aware that the left-hand side of tho road is Ins correct side, and on a straight road, where there is ordinarily no danger, he will keep fairly continuously to that side. But as soon as he reaches a sharpish bend whore danger is always lurking, and where strict observance of the road laws is trebly essential, ho will almost invariably ignore tho rule, and in the case of a bend to tho right cross over to his right-hand side. Most mysterious of all, ho will generally take his wrong sido at tho very point where peril touches its maximum—that is, on the very crook of the bend. Logical only in his obstinate folly, if the road swings over to his left he will very probably swing over towards Hie rightnand side of the road on tho elbow, thus subjecting himself to being rammed broadside by oncoming traffic (says “ Hoad Rider,” in tho ‘ Motor Cycle r ). Left-hand cornel's demand a little thought. Hug the left-hand edge closely, and you are certainly keeping the law, hut get no view until the last possible moment. Approach a left-hand corner on the right-hand sido of the road, and you get a view round as early as possible; hut you are on your wrong side. If all is clear no harm is done. But should you meet an oncoming driver, ho does not know what to do, seeing that you occupy his proper trade. He may be able to stop. More probably he will swerve on to the track where you ought to have been. At the same time you recognise your and you cross back to your proper side. So the only correct way of tackling a blind lefthand bend is to approach it on your lawful side of the road—tho left-hand side, but to keep well out from the near edge on tie left centre of the Jg&kJSjaJfi. JfeftJ&S&JE&lJBSfc

Brief accomsls of holiday trips, roads, and places of interest af9 invited for this column.

out breaking the rule of the road. Taking a course which forms a tangent with the inside arc of a corner is the commonest and most dangerous form of road crime. —Overtaking on a Corner.— The next commonest error is to overtake other traffic on a, corner. Wo all suffer from a mental expectation that on rounding a blind corner wo shall have half the width of the road at our disposal. If this were true accidents would he rare. If the entire population were intolTTgeiit and law-abid-ing wo should still often bo compelled to effect lightning emergency stops on reaching the crook of a blind corner. Sheep, rattle, clumsy corncrists, leviathan vehicles, vehicles pulled up outside gates and houses, these and other obstructions remain inevitable. In particular, the average rural horseman is an incurable ass, with youthful drivers of vans owned by local tradesmen coming a. close second. It is wildly exasperating to take the dust of a largo vehicle for a mile or two or tortuous road on a dusty summer day, and extremely tempting to make a rush when the other fellow slows a tritlo too much for a blind corner. You say to yourself; “I will nip past him here,” and up you eo alongside with a rush. But fancy the situation which will assert itself with lightning rapidity if another sidecar driver is making the same remark to himself with reference to another car just out of sight round the bond. The quartet meet head on in a 15ft road, and there is an almighty mix-up. Never overtake another vehicle on a corner. One must draw the line even more tightly than this. On unclassified roads the width is usually just enough for two double-track vehicles. It follows that if a perambulator or a cyclist or a pedestrian is absorbing only 2ft of that width on the blind crook of a corner there may not be room for you and an oncoming vehicle, more especially if the other vehicle chance to bo a motor coach of a big five-ton lorry.

—Problems at Triple Junctions.— A quadruple cross road is so dangerous if any buildings or hedges obscure it that the stupidist novice will naturally slow right down. But a few scares are generally needed to inspire duo respect for “ throe road ends.” The traffic problems at such triple junctions are so subtle that even experts sometimes quarrel about ibo theory of it. The roads seldom join at right angles, and it is not always clear which way the other follows are going. Hence triple junctions should bo taken dead slow if they arc blind or if other traffic is visible. All such junctions should he treated with immense respect and negotiated dead slow unless they are fully open to view and quite empty. —Proper Use of tho Hooter,— A valuable item in a safe season is a good hooter properly used. Small bulb horns with a low note, such as figure in the standard equipment of many cheap cars, arc almost useless on tho open road. But for the safe approach of blind spots, and for ensuring that traffic ahead is ready to let you pass, a really penetrating horn is absolutely essential. Some of the very long trombone-shaped bulb horns give the right sort of note, but an electric alarm is almost invariably preferable. AVhon obtained it should be used with sense and discretion. Never overtake aounlor vehicle without sounding the hooter and getting hack the “ come ou ” signal m return. At blind corners it is useless to deliver a volley of hoots long before you reach tho danger point, for the hedges, walls, or other obstructions will deflect tho sound, which will not round the corner and reach oncoming drivers.

Generally speaking, accidents arc almost always duo to excessive speed, but, contrary to general belief, the “ excessive speed ” which spells a crash is not of the 40 m.p.h. or even of the oil m.p.h. order. Smashes come from doing 20 m.p.h. when 10 m.p.h. or even 5 m.p.h. is advisable. Except in the very rarest in toners a threatened mix-up can ho a ’■ tol if tho parties ran stop quickly. ! Imre is never any special thrill in 2u ■■ h. There is never any real value in ’ ■ ! wo or three seconds saved by no: 1 wing down quite as soon or quite as i i as rommon-senso dicta lex. Disciple ■ that feverish mentality which throws a man into a perpetual senseless hurry ns soon as he lias an engine under his control, ami you will get through your season without a. collision and without a succession of narrow squeaks. Good brakes are an absolute necessity, and frequent examination of them a safeguard. A CENTURY AGO. The following paragraph that appeared in the ‘Observer’ on September 2b, 1825, is probably of as much interest to-day as when published Jt has been suggested that the, treadmill in the House of Correction in Coldhath Fields might bo usefully applied to Die purpose of breaking the granite for the new method of road-making. At any rate, it must seem extraordinary that 2I.HJ or 200 people should bo every day employed in producing a power which might bo applied to many useful purposes, but which lias, ever since its creation, been wasted in air.” The “ new method ” referred to in tho paragraph was, of course, tho plan of “macadamising” the roadway, then only recently practised. Previously the roadinaker, seeking for a resisting surface, had used paving stones. Macadam and Telford, however, brought about a revolution in method by the obvious, but till then unthought-of, plan of breaking the stones to small sixes, ONE-SPEED CARS. Cars which will go anywhere on top gear seem to be tho ideal of some motorists. Tho demand for this class of vehicle is catered for mostly by the several largo American sixes and eights, with R.A.C. ratings, in the vicinity of 35 h.p. and 40 h.p. There axe, however, British and Continental examples of super-power care which possess tho ability to even make a smooth standing start in top gear. A now model six-cylinder Bentley rated as 37.8 h.p. is an English example. It is claimed that this car could journey the length of England and Scotland without recourse to the indirect gears. The distinction of having the greatest rated horse-power of any standard model in the world belongs ,strangely enough, to the Daimler, one typo of which is rated at 51.4 h.p. The bore of the engine is 4|in. The only other British cars rated in excess of 35 h.p. are the Lanohestcr, 38.4 h,p.; RollsRoyco, 43.3 h.p.; and Owen, 40 h.p. Powerful Continental cars are the Isotta-Fraschini, 44.3 h.p.; HispanoSnma, 37.2 h.p.; Fannan, 37.2 h.p.; Rochet-Schnoidcr, 37.2 h.p.; and Renault, 45 h.p. High-power American cars are Panbard-Lovassocur, 37.2 h.p.; tho Locomobile, 48.6 h.p.; MTarlan, 48. G h.p.; Cunningham, 45 h.p.; Packard and Studebakcr, 36 h.p.

ACTIVE AND PASSIVE. There is nothing more trying to the export driver than to bo driven by someone who handles a car with a clumsy touch. The competent driver cannot sit calmly alongside a less-skilled motorist and see the controls misused. Even where fault does not exist it is easy to imagine that the other driver is always choosing the least desirable alternatives. If compelled to occupy a seat in a badly-driven car a careful or last driver finds himself automatically pressing with his feet on imaginary pedals. When gears arc changed with a clash it gives him a sense of irritation. The other driver always operates liis_ gears at the wrong moment. Ho is injudicious in his use of tho accelerator, and takes corners at either tho wrong speed or with an incorrect sweep. Tho man who is not driving nevertheless controls tho car in his mind. Subconsciously he operates tho car_ according to his own ideas, and experiences a shock when it obeys the hands of the real driver. The only psychological solution to the situation would be to provide a steering-wheel, brake, clutch, and gear lever for each passenger, and Jet him work out his own destruction.

THE SKIDDING DANGER. A QUESTION OF SUM.'’ACE. Tho nvorago cur driver normally on a dry road skids very seldom, but conditions arise when groat caution is needed to control tho car. There fa at present a controversy in Dritain concerning tho custom of surfacing concrete roads with bitumen carpets. American engineers seem to favor tho bare concrete, although, when wear or cracks develop, it is usual to resort to a bitumen coating to restore the surface and stability of tho road before disintegration commences. It seems only reasonable to giro a concrete road a chance to show its wear-resisting prox>erties before detracting from its desirability by giving it a bitumen surface. The primary cause of skidding lies in tho nature of tho road, and given a treacherous surface it may not matter much whether tho tyres are worn or complete with new non-skid treads. Skidding fa not a question of pure bad luck. Its frequency varies with tho skill of individual drivers. Tho best lesson any novice driver can have is to experience some minor skids. Ihe di’ivcr who has never felt his car skid may only aggravate tho first serious slip he suffers, and involve his car in a serious accident. Moisture on a concrete or bitumen road docs not alone render it conducive to skids. It fa when tho (lust becomes mixed into a slippery compound and spreads widely that the most treacherous surface conditions prevail. On wet bitumen and tar-sealed roads oils exuded from the material may constitute a skid mixture. provided no change takes place in the car speed, very treacherous surfaces can be negotiated. Violent acceleration or a sudden application of the brakes will be alike in their effect of causing the car to pivot. _ Hoad adhesion vanes greatly, and tho coefficient for different conditions on the same road may range m the proportion of from 1 to 10. Thus if it is possible to lock the back wheels of the car with a pedal pressure ot oOlb when tho road is dry. the same result may be obtained when the road is greasy with a pressure of 51b only. . The only rulo io ! ' saioi»y is for the driver to make a study of tho surface on which ho is travelling. V ilk a sensitive brake control a competent driver can apply the, pressure just within tho bounds of safety.

PURCHASING A CAR. POINTS WORTH NOTING. In purchasing a, new car it fa as well to give consideration to the following questions:— Is tho price you have set within your means? Has the maker a. good reputation, and have his vehicles proved successful over a number of years? Has the dealer been in business long enough to establish his financial strength and his reputation for honest and fair dealing? What fa the life of the vehicle, and what will be its vo-sale value at intervals of one year? Will the mainionancp of fhc car ho within tho purchaser’s means? Will the car perform to ihe purchaser’s satisfaction? Do tho exterior and interior -appearances meet requirements? Docs tho car provide the comfort anticipated, and possess tho mechanical strength to moot the service for which it is intended?

NON-SKID DEVICE. A dovico which is claimed to arrest skids when they develop has been evolved by Mr Daniel Whitburn, of Manurewa, who has built two small experimental models. One of the attachment consists of a small wheel which is pivoted on the back axle in a yoke which can bo dropped so that the wheel makes contact with the ground midway between the track ol the two rear lyres. The yoke is spring-con-trolled from the driver’s scat. Immediately a sensation of skidding is experienced, the driver releases a lever which causes the third small back wheel to make contact with the ground. Another form of the device employs two small wheels in the yoke. The inventor considers that his_ apparatus will arrest skids by exerting the grip on the road which has been lost, by the back wheels. Jf the small wheels of the device were sharp-edged it can bo appreciated that they would be effective on soft clay or sandy roads, but in this form the invention would ho obviously useless on concrete. The proprietor of the attachment claims, however, that wheels could be devised which would afford the necessary grip. No test has been made on a full-sized car to determine the practicability of the invention. NEW TUBES PAY. If it is known that the inner tube in an old tyre is not in good condition, there is no reason why the tyre should 'not be run until it hursts, hut if the tubes are good it is more economical ,io tit a new cover when*' the fabric of the old one is exposed than to continue to run the cover until a burst not only ruins the tube, but may also cause an inconvenient wayside halt to lit a spare wheel. Cover and tuba repairs are matters about which there are many conliicting opinions. Some experienced drivers regularly patch their tubus, and _ declare that a good patch properly fitted is quite as effective and durable as a vulcanised repair, and in their belief they are undoubtedly correct. Unfortunately, however, patching is not particularly easy, and for each patch which is properly applied fifty are fitted incorrectly, and ultimately cause trouble. In any case, on a car which is driven fast in hot weather, patches, however well they may be fitted, arc liable to come off. if properly carried out, a vulcanised repair is as strong as any other part of the tube. The same docs not apply, I however, to repairs to outer covers, i Unless the gash which lias been vulcanised affects only the tread, no amount of vulcanising will restore the strength to the fabric, which lias been 'cut through, and if by some misfortune La tyre is badly cut right through to the tube the cheapest and _ most satisI factory plan is to discard it and fit a now one. HfGH SPEEDS AND CLOSED BODIES. The high speeds being developed by dosed cars is remarkable. A two-litre Rona Pilain car, fitted with a saloon body, on the Paris track, has covered 2,796 miles; it averaged a speed of 63.59 miles an hour for just, ou fifty hours’ continuous run, while a small 10 h.p. car, with saloon body, when the mail was despatched, was averaging 621 miles daily, and in less than a month had covered 15.000 miles-. This test is on the roads, and not on a racing track. A Sunbeam two-litre car has just arrived in Melbourne, fitted with a full touring body, and it is guaranteed to do 110 miles an hour on a track and ninety-four miles an hour on the road. Eifty-llvo miles an hour is now common ou the fast bus services over good roads in America. It appears that the automobile has become the fastest vehicle, and easily beats the railway, while such speeds as recently attained make the car a serious rival of the aeroplane as regards speed.

RUINED BATTERIES.' No single improvement has contributed so much to the comfort and utility of motoring as the so-called “ self-starter.” Yet nothing has contributed so much to the general deterioration of the ordinary touring car and commercial truck engines. In the old days of hand-cranking, it was necessary to keep the engine in sufficiently good older to ensure reasonably easy starting, which means that it was also in the best condition for general driving. Now the majority of owners do not appear to care how hard the engine is to start so long as the electric starter eventually gets it going. That mournful wail from the starting gears is a reproach to the neglectful and careless owner. Twenty seconds’ grinding with the starter will take more out of the battery than can be replaced in twenty miles of steady driving. Few batteries wear out—they are ruined by abuse of the electric starter. Keep the engine in condition to start easily by hand at any time, and all will bo well/ With proper treatment a good battery will require little attention beyond keeping the terminals clean and tight, and keeping the fluid up to the proper level. Use nothing but distilled water to refill the battogy. If this does not appear to give the desired result, take it to a battery service station and have it tested. Do not attempt to replenish the acid or tinker with it in any other way. The starter motor will need little attention if intelligently used. All it requires is a little oil in the right place and an occasional inspection of the brushes. ELIMINATING CLUTCH SLIP. When clutch slip becomes chronic on a Ford, and cannot be got rid of by adjustment of the clutch fingers, the usual remedy is to fit a couple of extra clutch discs. A much bettor way of meeting the contingency is to have the clutch push ring removed, and to fit slightly longer pegs to the rings. Where extra plates have been fitted, _ the fnction surface is very much increased, and this makes for much more difficult cranking in neutral, and makes clutch engagement rather more fierce than it should be. Coasting will be much less free, and will bo rendered possible only over short distances, unless the vehicle is on n, very steep descent. The tendency to creep when the engine is set in motion is also increased when extra discs are fitted. FIAT-FORD COMBINE. News is to hand by the last English mail that the alleged agmsmonfl entered into between Fiat and Ford is stated to bo without, foundation by Messrs Fiat (England), Ltd. HERE AND THERE. ](, will surprise most people to learn that Australia is the largest importer of motor industry parts in the world. Exports of motor engineering product's from the world’s leading centres totalled £80,000,000 in 1924, and Australia was flic biggest contributor. Last year the United States exported £40.000.000 worth of care. Franco was second on the list, Italy third, and _ England fourth with exports worth £0,500,000.

A somewhat novel idea of dealing with children was adopted in Fulham recently, whore, on the suggestion of .). White and Co., engineers, a. number of the riverside wharf owners gave a day s outing to 500 children who livo along iho banks of the Thames in the district. In return for the treat the children, have undertaken not to run behind the dilforent firms’ lorries, nor to trespass on the wharves and barges. It willl he interesting to see if the expectations of tVic organisers are realised in practice. » * * * It is surely time Aberdeen was revising its by-laws! A few days ago two men were admonished at the Police Court when they appeared on a charge of having hired a taxi cab on a Sunday, which is against the by-laws made by the magistrates in 1911. An agent, on behalf of the accused, pointed out that the by-laws required alteration nowadays, because motor coaches were, allowed to ply for hire on Sundays. ■R- -X' One of the latest additions to the English accessory market is a thermostatic carburettor control for Ford cars. A thermostat attachment on (he exhaust manifold is connected to the needle of the valve, so that as the engine warms up the valve is gradually closed. When the engine is. stopped and allowed to cool the thermostat opens the valve ready for easy starting. An old tip, which does not lose in value by repetition, is to carry spare split, pins, washers, nuts, and similar oddments likely to be required, on a, piece of wire, so that they may he easily found when wanted. The wire itself may be useful. * -x- * * There was a much larger representation in the 500 c.o. single-cylinder class than in any other .section at the recent British motor cycle show. About 100 motorists who committed broaches of the by-laws during the Christchurch Carnival Week are to be served with summonses to appear at the Magistrate's Court in the near future. * * * * A Durham police sergeant recently conveyed an alleged offender five miles oil the pillion seat of his motor cycle to the police station to await trial. The prisoner, it is reported, was handcuffed to the oliicor. x * * Hero lies the remains of Pereivul Sapp. Ho drove a. cur with a girl in his lap. Lies sin inhering hero one William Blake. Ho heard the bell, hut had no brake. Beneath this stone lies William Baines, fee ou the hill—he had no chains. Here lies the body of William Jay. Ho died maintaining his right of way. John Smith lies here without his shoes. He drove his car while filled witli booze. Here’s Alary. Jane—but not alive. She made her Ford do thirfcv-five.