MOTOR “DONT’S”

Hawera Star, Volume L, 10 January 1931, Page 13

MOTOR “DONT’S”

COMMON DRIVING FAULTS.

SAFETY FIRST IS BEST

It is a fact peculiar to human nature that if there is a right way and a wrong way of doing anything there •is always someone who will do it the wrong way. How many of the thousands of persons who drive motor cars could step into a witness-box, take the oath, and declare solemnly and conscientiously that they observe every bylaw, that they never drive in a way that could he considered dangerous, that they know how everything should he done, and do it accordingly—in short, that they are perfect drivers Y The number of accidents that are reported in the newspapers every day suggest that there are not a few persons on the road who are a. long way from being perfect drivers—mishaps caused by a fault? of the ear itself are the exception rather than the rule. Carelessness and incompetent driving are the causes of a great percentage of the smashes that occur.

Let us first consider a few of the common faults that are liable to have serious consequences. Cutting corners is a practice that is all too common, and one which has been the euase of an untold number of accidents. There no real reason why a corner should be cut. The time that is saved is negligible and the danger of the practice is obvious. The placing of “silent policemen” at many intersections has helped towards educating the motorist to make a safe turn, but the temptation of saving perhaps a second by “cutting” is still too strong for some drivers,

{and only a serious accident or a stiff fine will cure them.

Another common fault is that of passing a car when the visibility is poor or when the view is obstructed. Particularly does this apply to passing on corners. Someone of a poetic turn of mind once wrote:

He passed a lorry on a bend. His friends are picking flowers to send

Although flippant, the above lines contain a good moral and are well worth remembering. To put one’s foot on the accelerator and speed past another car at a corner is to take a big risk. If nothing is coming the other way all will be well, but if something is approaching there is every chance of a head-on collision. Passing a car near the brow of a steep hill is another fault all too common. A car coming from the opposite direction may be out of sight when the reckless driver starts his move, but it may appear just as the two cars climbing the lull are abreast, and in that case, if the road is narrow, it will take capable handling, plus good fortune, to avert a smash.

A practice that is more annoying than actually dangerous is that of a driver who at frequent intervals puts out his right hand to flick the ash off his cigarette or spill the ashes from his pip.e You are travelling behind another car and are about to pass it when you see a hand put out from the driver’s seat. You immediately think that the car in front is about to turn and you slow down and fall to the rear again But the car in front continues on straight ahead and you are left to guess whether the driver did intend To turn and then changed his mind, or whether his action in putting out his hand was never intended as a signal. The same annoyance may be caused

by a child or someone old enough to know better putting out a hand to wave to friends in other cars or on the sidewalks. Now a word on the correct way to give a signal that you are going to turn to the right. The arm should he fully extended and not draped over the side in a half-hearted manner. When driving in wet weather many owners of closed cars merely let down the glass of the right-hand front door sufficiently to squeeze a hand out.

•One man who has had wide experience of motor accidents says that every driver should convince himself that the other man on the road is a fool and should act accordingly. He means, of course, that one has ever to be on the look-out for the reckless or incompetent driver. It is not enough for him to keep to his corerct side of the* road and go straight ahead with an implicit faith that the way is clear; his sole attention must he concentrated on his driving. Thus the danger of a motorist turning his head to converse with .someone in the rear seat is obvious. Like the Boy Scout, the driver must always “be prepared.”

There are a hundred “Pon’ts” that are told to the purchaser of a new car, hut there are many of them that are never obeyed. The man who is accustomed to driving at an average speed finds it hard to step into a new car and drive at a snail's pate, hut last travelling in a car just out of the dealer’s hands can do an incalculable amount of harm in a very short time. In order to protect the motorist against himself many dealers now put governors oil new cars and leave them on until a certain mileage has heen | covered. In these days of self-starters cranking a. car is a comparatively rare

occurrence. In nine cases out of ten j a touch of the foot on the self-starter will set the engine running, but occasionally there comes a time when cranking is necessary. When cranking, the thumb must lie along the incl ex finger and never across the handle. A backfire with the cranking handle incorrectly held frequently means a broken wrist.