MOTORING NOTES

Grey River Argus, 30 April 1938, Page 4

MOTORING NOTES

Hints for Drivers A GEAR SHIFTING HINT FOR CARS WITH SYNCHROMESH. Changing gears with the modern synchromesh gearbox is such a simple and certain process that the unthinking driver may abuse the facility in some circumstances to his ultimate disadvantage. The circumstances in question arise when he changes into a lower gear in advance of a sharp corner that he realises will necessitate a considerable reduction in the speed of the car, implying that quicker acceleration thereafter will be gained from the use of a lower gear. Similar circumstances arise when he changes down early in preparation for the ascent of a hill that he knows will call for a lower gear. Now with the old type of non-synchromesh gearbox, such changes of gear necessitated the use of the double declutching system, implying that the engine had to be accelerated —while the gear lever was in neutral —to the speed at which it would turn round when the lower gear was in use. But with the synchromesh gearbox, the lower gear box can be engaged quietly and easily with the accelerator released, merely by depressing the clutch pedal and moving the gear lever deliberately. If, however, immediately the lower gear has been engaged, the clutch be re-engaged while the accelerator is still released, there will be a backward jerk to the car because the engine is .running very slowly relative to the car speed. There Is a sudden braking effect applied through the transmission—gearbox, propellor shaft, rear axle, wheels and tyres. It should be the aim of the driver to avoid that backward jerk; he can do so. if, after the lower gear has been engaged, but before the clutch is released, he speeds up .the engine by depressing the accelerator appropriately. In doing so, he will spare the transmission as a whole of a more or less violent shock. Moreover, as that jerk corresponds in effect with the excessive use of the brakes, undue tyre wear will be prevented by adopting the plan advised. Change down early, by all means, when an early change is necessary or useful; hut “wait for the engine” before releasing the clutch pedai. DANGER IN FOLLOWING TOO CLOSE. The important road safety consideration of allowing plenty of space when motoring between one’s vehicle and the vehicle ahead was raised by a correspondent recently. He noted the fact that motorists maintained considerable rates of speed without considering a sufficient space In which a safe halt could be made, should anything untoward cause such a halt. The insurance companies, no doubt, could supply impressive evidence of the damage done to vehicles, fore and aft, through motorists failing to provide themselves with adequate space in which to avoid head-to-tail collisions.

There is no justification for collisions of this type. They are caused either through failure to keep a proper look-out, speed which will not allow of the application of the distance rule (that is, being able to stop in half the distance of clear road ahead), inefficient brakes, and possibly, contributory carelessness by a driver ahead in failing to give hand signals of a premeditated stop. On Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays particularly, when long processions of vehicles are unavoidable because of narrow, winding, or congested roads, there is a noticeable tendency for head-to-tail driving at speeds which are thoughtless in many instances.

Drivers should allow plenty of distance between vehicles consistent with the speed, and those drivers who maintain speed on the tail of another vehicle are looking for trouble.

A mechanical breakdown, the emergence of an object in the path of the car ahead, cyclists, pedestrians, a car stopped on a bend where it has no right to be, may be factors which cause the driver to brake suddenly and reduce speed considerably. If the following driver is matching speed with speed and does not allow himself any room to stop safely, or even swerve if it is practicable and safe, runs the serious risk of causing injury and damage. One cannot resist the conclusion from observation, that there is a type of driver lacking in common sense who takes advantage of the careful driver who allows plenty of space by cutting in and filling that space. The net gain to such a cutter-in is that he is one car ahead, no more, and he tends to turn a safe position into one which may be dangerous. It is irritating to good, safe drivers to find space filched from them in this way, and that does not contribute to road safety or the good fellowship of the road. Motorists must realise that it is not. sporting to overtake a car and pass immediately across its bows, and that it is dangerous and illegal to attempt to overtake another vehicle unless there is road space available. If you are a careful driver who allows plenty of space, consistent with speed used, between your vehicle and the one ahead, it is good driving to allow space-filchers to operate if they see motoring pleasure from that angle. Retaliation or frustration will not improve the position. Slacken speed and drop back if necessary, so that your safe margin of road space is restored. In due course you can be fairly certain that the habitual cutters-in of the smart type, the type which filches your road space, eventually figure in the accident statistics which are fattened so substantially by Saturday, Sunday, and holiday traffic.

, Do not be blustered by horn-sound-ing speedsters, the impatient ones, into doing the wrong thing. You are the best judge of your own driving capabilities and the capabilities of your car. Act safely at all times, and remember that a head-to-tail collision is a reproach to your ability as a motorist. TRAFFIC CONTROL. According to the New York Police Department, the installation of signal traffic fights at street intersections in that city has resulted in an annual reduction of almost 5000 traffic accidents. It was also disclosed that the JSOOO signal controlled traffic lights in J New York only cost £3,000 per year '[ for labour at the control room, as

compared with £50,000 a year it cost when the original 50 traffic light tower stations were erected in the major streets of that city 27 years ago. SPARKS. Patrols to guide school children at dangerous main road crossings are included in a safety scheme now under consideration for Surrey. * * “A pedestrian has as much obligation ta^e care as a mot - or ' st ''” sa 'd an English commentator recently. * * * Driving licences issued to visitors in the Isle of Man last year numbered 2835, mostly to motor cyclists; 358 cars were taken over to the island. Use of plain-clothes policemen to accumulate evidence in traffic obstruction cases, is arousing criticism in Manchester. * * * A motorist has been awarded £lOO damages at Ipswich, England, against a pedestrian who was held responsible for an accident. The Hawker-Hurricane fighter, which flew from Edinburgh to London at an average speed of 408.75 m.p.h., was powered by a RollsRoyce Merlin engine. AIR FOR THE SPAREI A wet day (or night), ten minutes to spare to keep an appointment (or catch a boat or ’plane) a puncture (or a burst), a wheel changed in record time (perhaps), and —no air in the spare ( ; —) 1 A combination of circumstances such as the above has not infrequently been experienced by the “foolish virgins” among car drivers, and, upon occasions, even by those who are most meticulous in observing the injunction: “Test your tyres every Friday.” It should be remembered that the spare tvre is just as likely to lose a pressure (other than by puncture) as the four in use; it is not immune from the slight leakage that occurs continuously from nearly all airtubes. So whenever the tyres are tested and inflated, the spare should be attended to as well as the others. While on the subject of spares we might mention the importance of carrying a good spare. This advice may sound somewhat unneessary but the fact remains that many drivers still carry a very poor spare. The spare in such cases is frequently the worst tyre on the car and the result is that after a puncture is experienced the car proceeds on its way with a poor tyre on the road and a flat one on the spare tyre carrier. It is obvious that such a condition is far from desirable. Remember then, “Keep the spare inflated and see that it is a good one.” An engineer is said to be a man who knows a great deal about a very little and goes on knowing more and more about less and less until finally he knows practically everything about nothing. A salesman on the other hand, is a man who knows very little about a great deal and who keeps on knowing less and less about more and more until he knows practically nothing about everything.