DRIVING WISDOM.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 19 May 1928, Page 14

DRIVING WISDOM.

POINTS THAT AIAHK IT. Be good to' your car and indirectly you will bo good to yourself. This means* three things—law observance, courtesy, and consideration for vour car. Everybody swears that they give handsignals with religious scrupulousness, but there are many times when these are entirely forgotten in the stress of other things at the corner. And such signals most of them are, too! If the engine ran as raggedly as the signals are given we should all lx* pedestrians by preference. Oars are occasionally overtaken and passed on the left-hand side, and this performance, which sometimes causes considerable inconvenience, is often fraught with danger; further, it is illegal, and discourteous. AVhen you come to a busy intersection, give the other fellow a chance; perhaps he was there first. When you overtake and pass a car, don’t suddenly slow down and force the driver behind you to ride his brakes to prevent him mixing bis radiator with your spare tyre. It you have to slow up after passing a car you shouldn’t have passed it.. The useful work your engine does when driving on a level road Is to overcome mechanical friction and wind resistance. Moth these factors increase very rapidly as you increase your speed, which indicates that the slower you go the less petrol will be used per mile travelled. However, at slow speeds the efficiency of the engine is not as great as at high speeds. There is, therefore, a best speed of about twenty-five miles per hoar, at which the best mileage will - he obtained. Driving with the hand throttle on long, open stretches, is also conducive | to good mileage, as it allows the engine to operate more uniformly than when vour foot, responding to every light jar. moves the throttle. If you do thii ty-five ’miles an hour or more, whenever you can, you will enjo.v an increase in petrol mileage of several miles per gallon. By consistently driving between twenty-live and thirty miles you wili reach your destination in almost the same driving time.