THE MOTOR WORLD

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 23 August 1924, Page 16

THE MOTOR WORLD

NOTES OF INTEREST. A member of the executive of the,! Dominion .Winter Show at the ordinary j meeting- on Monday brought up the i question of motor by-laws, and express-1 ed his opinion that there 'was a' ten-.! deney in Hawera for these to be made' t exatious to the farmer, and also said that it \\ as having an influence in keep- - ing farming people from a distance from coming into the town. If it is so, and this opinion was also expressed at tiie community meeting last week it is a paint that is worth consideration by thc- authorities. The restrictions on speeding generally and the insistence of (‘are at crossings are all to the good, but to overdo the pressing- of small technical breaches is not wise, nor does it seem necessary. Flays T.D.B. in the Dominion, in that often very amusing column of his, often very instructive: “Members of the Automobile Union last night became quite offensive, reviling the. Government because of its failure to tax them.—The Government, however, expects to be much too busy taking the taxes off racing clubs to waste time putting them on motorists."' A PERFECT COUNTRY FOR MOTORISTS. Spain is the perfect country for motorist::. A single car, bounding from chasm to chasm with no traffic to delay it. will leave the road smoking for miles, and the blemished little olive trees inore blemished than ever. Nothing could exceed its volcanic grandeur hi the eves.of those who are left gaping behind; and no siren could be too harsh and powerful to shake a lethargic peasantry into motion, fn Madrid the motors rear and plunge like cavalry, in the hands of the excited Spaniards who have acquired them. Our ’bus quickly filled in the pale, shuttered streets, and then swung out. of the town. Those who were left gasping but good-natured behind us were taken bv a second ’bus that followed. It was strange to see even Spain acquiring these vehicles, that mean, in every particular, a departure from their traditions; to see pallid, blackrobed women, who appear iu the streets at sunset and are hidden else all day, mixed with men on both sides of that rattling cabinet, folk who are beginning to move about and see their province, and soon Spain, as a new whole. A very beautiful girl, with her mamma or guardian, sat opposite to us. She wore black, with exquisite filigree ear-rings; and between her simple gown and the black of her polished bare hair, of which not a single strand could be separately discerned, her pale, perfect face struck you insensible to all else. There were wedged between st-outish, well-to-do men in light-col-oured cotton suits and straw hats, and one young man in perfect boulevard attire. Behind them the olive trees went flickering by iu a panic of activity (what a new Spain!), and the dust sprang away from the open doorway at the back and concealed the roadway in great clouds. All sat silent, contented and impressed.

Bluish, transparent-looking hills moved more slowly by, with their spatterings of forest and a few terraced vineyards; but for the most part even we, who were fired with perhaps a far too romantic mood about Spain, had to confess the landscape’s monotony so far. Except- in elnted moment, lie is bound to forget, the traveller in Spain, the marvels that name implies, Where Lima like a stair Walks upward to white snow,

and how these trees and herbage, so scant and incredible, was the tinder that fired the New World we possess to explosive life, a spreading of dangerous, if delightful, heroisms, passions, and quite unfounded assertions into inflammable forest lands, a conflagration we must control unless wo perish.

THE COURTESY OF THE ROAD. From time to time those who were motorists in the eariv days write to the motoring journals bewailing the fact that the old chivalry of the road is dead. Time was when, if you stopped with a puncture, a- (food Samaritan, on seeing your plight, pulled up forthwith and hurried to your aid with jack’and tyro leveis. Did you experience some mysterious trouble, he would spend r-0 hour or two by your side, giving you the benefit of his, perhaps, more mature experience. Rut nowadays things are clilierent. So often, alas! the motorist who. for one reason or another, has come to an involuntary stop is passed unnoticed by the hordes of other car drivers who pass him at intervals of a few minutes at the most, it they do observe his plight they smile to themselves and say, "‘Rotten cars, those.” and drive straight on. It is only if the stranded one waves frantically to passing cars that lie may induce them to stop, and, even then, unfortunately, his fellow road user is apt to chafe at the delay and perhaps he none too obliging. 'let there are still men with hearts if gold, who will draw up beside one. enquire sympathetically what the trouble is. and jump out to proffer all flic* assistance in their power. Even if these kind-hearted individuals can render hut little assistance, it is extraordinary how, if the trouble occurs at night, a friendly conversation springing from this roadside help helps to shorten the time spent on the repair. After all it costs so little to slow down momentarily and ask if any help is lequired. Frequently the stranded motorist may la-k some small thing which you can easily supply. He may, for instance, have accidentally come away without a jack, or may find, when stopped by a choked jet, that no jet key is provided in his tool kit. Again, he may have started off optimistically expecting his new car to do 3o miles to the gallon, and only learn that it will not do so when the car comes to a standstill, the fuel tank empty, in the middle of some desert.ed district.

Mere man. if wishing to call for assistance, must needs stand still in the toad and bellow at passing motorists. .Not so, however, the lady driver. Few are those so stony-hearted that they can resist an appealing smile' from some fair driver, and though, perhaps, inwardly cursing at the delay. they feel in honour hound to get their sister driver’s car on the road somehow. Lt is tiue that there have been a few cases of “once bitten, twice shy,”- where lady drivers have traded noon the fact that they are supposed to be the weaker sex, by stopping motorists to do some trifling job; which they riot only knew how' to do, hut could quite easily do themselves; lrut, on the whole, such women drivers are rare, the average woman who drives not being so averse as all that to getting oil or grease on her' hands.

STANDING AT THE ROADSIDE. ■lt is really amazing how little common sense is displayed in the place chosen by many motorists to halt their cars at tne roadside. Perhaps the choice of a position does not. rest with the driver, but, except when severe trouble is experienced, it is quite easy to pqsli the car out of the way of other'traffic, while, alien the car is merely stopped i'or the occupants to enjoy a picnic on the wayside, there is absolutely no excuse • for leaving it in a position where-it may prove a danger to other .road users. THE MOTOR VEHICLES BILL. SOME ESSENTIAL POINTS If the new Motor Vehicles Bill is passed this session it will be eompul- | sory to register motor vehicles before the first day of February, 1925, and pending their registration it shall be lawful to use such motor vehicles after the commencement of the Act and before the first day of February, 19-25, if they have the identifying tnarks and numbers appropriate to their registration under the Motor Regulation Act, 1908. Clause 5 (2). The fee payable for the registration lof any motor vehicle is £l. This is !in addition to the annual license fee, which is £’2 for every private motorcar, £5 for every motor-coach or ! motor-omnibus, etc. 9 (b). | The first application for license in (respect to any motor-vehicle must be made within one month after the registration of that vehicle. 11 (1). ll a license is applied for and granted for a period less than a year, the license fees prescribed by the Act shall be leduced by one-twelfth part thereof for every complete month between the date of the grant of the license and the thirty-first day of March last preceding such date. 11 (2)■ . Within seven days after the sale or other disposal of any registered motorvehicle the person selling or otherwise disposing shall notify the Deputy Registrar, at whose office the motorvehicle is then registered, of the fact of such disposal . . . and shall transmit the certificate of registration of the motor-vehicle, and the then current annual license in respect thereof. 17 (1). Sub-section 3 of section 17 provides for the issue, on payment of a fee of five shillings, of the endorsed certificate and license to the new owner of any car sold or disposed of in accordance with section 17 (1). Under section 20 and 21, provision is made for local authority to issue, at a fee of five shillings, a motor-driver’s license. which shall he operative throughout New Zealand, and which shall remain in force until the 31st day of March next after the date on whr-h it is issued, and shall then expire.

APPROVAL FROM DUNEDIN. Mr A. E. An,sell, ex-president of the Otago Motor Club, and executive member of the South Island Motor, Union, asked to express his views of the Motor Vehicles Bill, said that motor organisations were very pleased that tiie Bill had been brought forward, as for the last four years they had been agitating for this measure, and for better control of traffic (states the Wellington Post’s Dunedin correspondent. “The Government is- using it,” he said, ‘"as a revenue-producing schethe, but motor organisations conj sider that the fees prescribed in the Act are quite reasonable, and are as • a matter of fact the fees agreed upon ; by the motor associations in conference ‘in Wellington. The associations recognise that in view of the ever-increas-ing motor traffic something must be done to regulate motor traffic, and endorsement or cancellation of licenses will certainly be a brake on reckless driving. That, after all, as far as motorists are concerned, is the important thing in the Act. Objections have been made by municipalities to registration fees being paid into the Highways account, and in order to get over that difficulty the motor organisations suggested that an annual fee of 5s for drivers’ licenses should be payable to the local authority. This places them in a ‘better position . than formerly. | Motor organisations are not in favour of drivers’ licenses being in the hands of local authorities, and consider that it would be better if those were handled by the police, because, after all. the police have to deal with the administration of the law.” Mr Ansel 1 said one satisfactory feature of the i Rill, as far as motorists were coneerniod, is that the Act provides that when the annual license has been obtained the car may be used on anv road in New Zealand. This prevents anv local • authority from levying further charges .on motors, excepting heavy r-ommer-“ial motors and cars plying for hire. - It was also satisfactory’ to note that u'l fines recovered in respect to offences against the Act would be paid into the Highways account.

MODERN MOTORING. SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR SAFER MOTORING. In response to an appeal for safer motoring suggestions, and the offer of prizes by several motoring journals, a correspondent to an English paper sent the following suggestions: Form a line in the centre of all roads (this is easily done with concrete roads —the road of the future), and in case of accident the responsibility to rest solely with the driver who is on the wrong side of such line. All danger signals to be placed a hundred yards from the danger point, instead of some ten and some a hundred yards from it, as at present. All danger signals referring to road junctions to he placed on the secondary roads only. All danger triangles to be painted red on the side seen on approaching the danger point, and white on the other, instead of red on both sides, as is usually done. Fix danger signals only where actually required. Far too many are fixed these days, and consequently they are not so seriously considered as they should he. Fix special sj£ns on all secondary roads showing that users are about to join a main road. In all accidents at road junctions the responsibility to rest solely on the driver emerging from the secondary road. All slow traffic to keep to the side of the road. All tramway standards to he fixed at the side of the roads, and not in the centre. Cars.—Brakes on all wheels : dipping headlights; replace all glass with Triplex safety glass; have the press button of the electric horn so placed that it can be pressed with the arm while the hand brake is being applied.

To iloj'ho Drivels.—Carry .lights in front and behind at night" Keep on vour proper side, particularly when approaching, or on a bend in the road, a bridge, or the top of a hill. To Cattle Drovers.—Carry a light at night in front, and in-the"rear, of all sheep and cattle. When motorists meet, or want to pass, the cattle or sheen you are driving go to just a little*trouble to get your animals to one side. Remember that it is not reasonable to monopolise the whole road.

To Pedestrians.—Act as if it were penal to walk on tiie roadway (where there is a footpath), except to cross the road at ligut angles. Where there is not any footpath, never walk more than two abreast,'and keep close to the right-hand side, so as to meet the traffic. "W hen there sire two or more of you together on a country road and a vehicle approaches, all go to the same side of the road, and not some to one and some to the other side. Never step oil' the footpath without seeing that there is not any vehicle approaching in either direction. and remember that mbtor vehicles travel quickly. To Cyclists.—Carry a tail light at night. Never ride more than two abreast, and keep to your proper side. Remember that a single cyclist riding 4ft from the kerb, or the side of the road, takes up as much road as a motor car. To Motorists.—Never drive at such a speed that you cannot stop iu half the distance you can see in front of you. On turning blind corners, rely less on horn blowing (which in these days of closed cars is very often not heal'd) and more on keeping to your own side of the road. Never enter any main road until you are absolutely certain that there is no possibility of an accident. , Always give the recognised • signal when turning to the right. If the other driver does not dip, or dim his headlights, don’t start playing the “Morse code” with yours; remember he may not lie able to do either, and ; that he may consider it dangerous to turn out his lights, and if you do not hold the same opinion remember it is just possible that he may be right and you wrong. Accustom yourself to using the hand brake to such an extent that in case, of emergency your hand will go to this lever automatically. Be keenly alert for every possible emergency; expect to find a fool, or a flock of sheep, coming round every blind corner, or out of every side road, a child rushing out of every door or gate, or from behind every vehicle you meet. Look out for lamps’ rays on the roads or hedges at night when appi’oaching corners or side roads. Remember that a small fraction of a second makes all the difference between a serious accident and safety, and act accordingly. Never attempt to “cut in” between two vehicles approaching each other, unless there is twice as much room as you require; the difference in time will be less than one minute, and you will have safety. Go uphill as quickly as you like, but never travel quickly down hill; pulling up in case of emergency is then very difficult.

ACROSS AUSTRALIA, 1861-1924. Away back in October, 1861, the Australian explorer J. McUougall Stuart left Adelaide in an attempt to make his way north across Australia to Port Darwin, and succeeded in crossing the continent, arriving at Darwin in July, 1862. Some 36 years after a sensation was caused when it was telegraphed from Alice Springs (centre of Australia) that a _ cyclist named Jerome J. Muril had arrived there from Adelaide in an attempt to cycle to Darwin. When lie succeeded in crossing the continent in 72 days on his Dunlop-shod Electra cycle the cycling world marvelled. A few months later Messrs T. Coleman and A. Mather, of Melbourne, attempted the record from the north, and, despite hardships en route which caused a sensation when the overland cable was cut to bring assistance, they succeeded in getting through to Adelaide. Later, in 1898, A. MacDonald, a telegraph operator at Port Darwin, cut the time down for the 2066 miles’ trip to Adelaide on a Swift cycle to 28 days 15 hours 30 minutes. It was not until November, 1907, that the first attempt was made to . negotiate this route hv motor car, when the South Australians, Messrs H. Dutton and N. Aunger (20 h.p. Talbot) were compelled, owing to heavy rains, to abandon the trip and leave their car at Tennants Creek —1379 miles from Adelaide. The following year the same two South Australian motorists tackled the same trip again in another Talbot and ,picking un the stranded car left at Tennants Creek, succeeded in getting both Talbots through to Darwin in 52 days, arriving there on August 20, 1908. Since then several motorists have successfully made the trip, and the latest to take on this interesting overland jaunt is the Earl and Countess Stradbroke’s party, which is travelling by Ford cars and accompanied by Mr and Mrs H. Dutton, the former being the motorist who was associated with the pioneer motor trip across the continent in 1908. With the advent of low pressure large diameter tyres this overlanding trip promises to become more popular, and provided supplies of fuel are arranged for and the wet season avoided, now affords a most interesting motoring trip across the continent.