MOTOR INSURANCE

Hawera Star, Volume LIII, 10 March 1934, Page 12

MOTOR INSURANCE

NEW ZEALAND EXAMPLE CRITICISED. POSITION IN AUSTRALIA. Following a proposal by the Victorian Government to introduce a measure providing for compulsory third party insurance by motorists, New Zealand has been given more than a fair share of publicity, states the Christchurch “Press” Sydney correspondent. It is because of the New Zealand example that- the companies are bitterly'opposing the. new measure. When the Hogan (Labour) Government was in power the idea of compulsory insurance was mooted, but, in the face of subsequent opposition, it was dropped. The matter has not yet been decided bv the present Cabinet, but in the meantime the companies are putting in a great deal of propaganda work. EXPERT’S COMMENT. Mr. O. D. Benjamin, general manager of Bennie S. Cohen and Son, insurance brokers, who considers that liis views are (indicative [of the feeling throughout the insurance business, said that the experience of New Zealand had shown the foolishness of compelling drivers to insure for thirdparty risks. In New Zealand accidents had increased enormously since its introduction, he said. Insurance companies were compelled to issue a policy to any driver, however negligent he was, or how indifferent was liis ability. The system had also resulted in a large number of false claims by persons who deliberately declared they had been injured by motorists. In addition, extraordinary claims were made to the court because the claimants knew it was the insurance eoyipany that was paying. And. for the same reason, juries gave extravagant awards.'

The methods adopted in the United States provided another reason why Victoria should not adopt the compulsory system The State of Massachusetts forced its drivers to insure, but 18 other States did not. They had learned their lesson from Massachusetts and had enforced a financial responsibility law. That meant that a driver, once his license had been suspended indefinitely, or over whom there had been a final judgment establishing negligence, could not drive again until he had guaranteed np to £2OOO for death or" personal injury through death or personal injury through accident. The cry for compulsory insurance had come from the hospitals, but surely there was some other way of satisfying the demands of the hospitals without penalising the insurance companies.

NEW RAIL CAR TOUR OF INSPECTION. HIGH SPEED MAINTAINED. Like a large service car, with flanged , wheels, the first sedan-type rail motor, which passed through Hawera. last week, is declared a complete success . by Mr. G. H. Mackley, general man-! ager of New Zealand railways. Mounted on a Leyland bus chassis, the body has seats for eight people, in-' eluding the driver, and is upholsteredin brown leather, sprung with specially, woven fibre to give a pneumatic effect. It can maintain a high .speed on an / economical petrol consumption. It. averaged 16 miles to the gallon on the) run from Wellington to Auckland, al-r though it maintained a speed of 60 miles an hour for considerable distances UNORTHODOX IN DESIGN NOVEL GERMAN CAR. EXPERIMENTAL INITIATIVE SHOWN. A number of the principal Con tin-, ental car factories for years have been daring in their departures from ortho-1 dox design, and the introduction of! new principles in chassis building, j which at first seemed to defy the con- | ventions of engineering, but later have] been widely adopted. Independent wheel suspension is a case in point, | and much has also been heard about ingeniously-built Continental bodies which enable a car to bo converted with the greatest ease from a totallyenclosed model with sliding windows to a tourer whose lines are not broken. by any unsightly pillars or other projections. An ultra-modern car recently pro-j dueed by the well-known Mercedes factory affords a good example of the J experimental initiative shown by some ; manufacturers. Its four-cylinder I 1300c.c. side-valve engine is carried at the hack of the chassis, and all four 1 wheels have independent springing. A type of chassis frame which has been used previously by one or two producers is employed. It takes the form of a tubular backbone, which at- the rear end merges into a fork on which | the power unit., comprising engine., i clutch, gear-box, and - differential, ismounted —on rubber |

r j ne engine overhangs the back axle and the drive is taken forward to the articulated driving axles. The radiator is supported between the prongs of the fork referred to, and at the front of the engine, above the differential assembly. Tt is cooled by a fan driven by a cased shaft. It is set off to one side to allow room for a evlindrical petrol tank. The floor level of the body is below that of the main central tubular chassis member. No attempt has been made to give the car the appearance of a front-engined model, hut the usual forward bonnet is suitably shaped, and is built to for;n a large compartment for luggage. Since no warming effect in the passenger compartment is procured from the engine, a hot-air system is fitted for use in severe weather.