USE YOUR GEARS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLIX, 7 September 1929, Page 15

USE YOUR GEARS.

MISTAKES THAT ARE MADE. After observing traffic conditions on the modern main road one is often tempted to ask tiiis question; How would the average present-day car driver describe the function of tlie gear-box ? In nine cases out of ten the answer would probably be: ‘ ‘ln order to get the car up hills which are too steep for top gear.” It is because so many motorists associate gear changing solely with hill climbing that they tail to take advantage of the indirect ratios on the level road. They do not perceive that the real function of the I gear box is to enable them at any moment to get a largely increased power from their engine, and what is more, they do not realise that acceleration is just as potent a factor of safety as the most powerful fourwheel braking system.

Time and time again one sees an opening in the trailie present itself to a driver who timidly “treads on the gas,” keeps his car jn top gear and reaches the opening jnst in time to find it shut by an oncoming vehicle. Had he slipped into third or second gear he could have safely cleared the obstruction. As it is, by imaging on to top and not using his gears he lias brought the control of his ear down to the very minimum. it will decelerate all right, but it.s acceleration is distinctly limited. A point that cannot he too often stressed, for it defeats a fallacy that hundreds of thousands of motorists believe is that high revolutions never hurt an engine so long as it is given a load to pull. Yet often enough the driver who races his engine in neutral, so as to ‘‘warm it up a bit” is the last man in the world to use his lower gears. He does his engine infinitely more harm by allowing it to pull down to the last few futile revolutions before giving it relief, lint this aspect of the matter is trivial (for it is his own affair entirely) compared to the fact that the motorist who will hang, on to top is a disturber of traffic and a menace to other road users, it will, of course, be understood that this is not referring to the driver of the super sports car, who is always in a superior position as regards other vehicles, but essentially to the man at the wheel of the general utility vehicle.

Tlie motorist who rushes into top gear can be assured that he is doing that which is utterly futile. He will not harm the gear-box by using it, for good design and impeccable material have made it almost wear-proof and quite fool-proof. He should learn how to slip his gears in quietly, which is only a knack and can be acquired after a few minutes practice. Above all, it should be borne in mind that to get past another car quickly is to get past it safely.