TYPES OF DRIVER.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 12 January 1929, Page 13

TYPES OF DRIVER.

WHICH IS BET' I ’. Opinions differ. ns to which' is the best type of driver. The man who habitually takes his car over the road at a break-neck pace is often referred to a;s a daring and clever motorist,- writes a correspondent in the ‘‘Auto-car,” On the other hand, men who never drive fast and surround themselves with a multitude of precautions are sometimes held up as models of what should be. On© of the most nerve-destroying drivers I ever sat beside was a slow driver. He never exceeded 25 m.p.h, - his wife ruled him from the back seat, and whenever a decision had to be taken he changed his mind two or -three times before, finally deciding what he would do. It sometimes , happened that the final decision wa® taken too late for safety.

On the other hand, one of the best men I ever node with was an ex-racw driver of 25 years’ experience, who had retained all the freshness of youth. Oh one occasion we had to make an emergency dash through traffic, and the quickness of the decision of that, man was equivalent to that of Tillden in an .nternationail tennis match. He knew when he couild pass and when he could not; ho never accelerated and decided a second later that it was a caise lor brakes. He knew in advance what he had! to do and did it without the fraction of a second’s hesitation. With him at the wheel one felt perfectly safe all the time. Probably the best driver is the one who gets over the ground ait the highest speed with the least apparent effort, either muscular or mechanical. This impliias imneccaible gear changes ; the handling of the engine in isuoli a, way that it neither races nor is allowed to knock; the correct speed for every bend ,so that the passengers do not feel that tliev arc being catapulted 1 around the corners ;and firm but gentle use of tli© brakes. Such, a method of driving is the best from the standpoint of the 'mechanism and of the tyres.

While the man wlio is intoxicated with, speed is a nuisance to everybody on the road, the, loitering driver can be, a real danger. Oar driving calls for a certain amount of concentration, and unileiss this factor fe present it is impossible for driving to be of high quality. 'Personally, I have committed faults when loitering, when jus?t sauntering along with thoughts .directed to the fee new or to stone object far removed, from the. car —faults which T should never have perpetrated! in normal moments, and still less when trying to get over the ground quickly.

The man who habitually loiters, who never fixes his mind upon the car and the handling of it, who has never felt real enthusiasm for driving, is always a menace, for he is constantly being taken hv surprise and plunged into situations from which it is difficult for hiim to extricate himself.