MOTORCAR BRAKES

Grey River Argus, 3 February 1917, Page 2

MOTORCAR BRAKES

SOME INTERESTING EXPERIMENTS. In logins of the relative risk caused by motor-cars and horse-drawn vehicles, the public have always tailed to grasp the fact that one of the most important factors as regards safety is the length of time, in other words, the space within which the motorist can pull up as compared with the I horse vehicle. Many years ago, when motor-car brake's were not nearly as efficient as they are to-day. S.F. Jlidge. a well-known English motorist, carf ried out a most interesting sencs of j tests so as to form a definite comparison, and, for that purpose, invited a i number of horse owners to take part. I The course was ■ marked off in measured sections, and unexpected signals to j stop were given at the entrance to the various sections. The exact distance covered before the respective contestants came to a dead stop was. then .measured from the tape to the horse's I front hoofs, and in the case of the mo- ; tor-car from the tape to the front i wheels of tohe car. The first test was between a motor mail van and a twohorse carrier's van. both carrying a load of .one and a-half tons. When travelling: at a pace of 7.6 miles an hour the motor pulled up in Bft, tm<\ the*carrier's van in 28 feet. A I single horse broug-ham f \yas next test!ed against a heaw touring- car when : travelling- at 13.3 miles per hour. The car covered Toft 6in. to the carriage's 47ft tin. The next test was between a touring- car and a hansom cab. The ■ former pulled up in 7ft oin. and the ilafter in 24ft 6in. The results of the demonstration proved that a motor-Crir can pull up in about one-third of the distance required by a. horse, and that therefore a car travelling at 24 miles an hour is no greater element oi cranjrer than a/ horse vehicle travelling at eiffht. ( . _ r _