Motoring LEARN IN TIME.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, Issue 205, 13 August 1927, Page 10

Motoring LEARN IN TIME.

FROM EXPERIENCE OF OTHERS. ACCIDENTS CAUSED BY FAULTY BRAKES. To learn from the experience ot others is cheaper than paying lor it yourself. Tins applies particularly to taking tile necessary precautions lor the avoidance of motor accidents. Not only are they costly, they affect the offender in other ways. An accident may, and often does, result in loss of life and maimed limbs- No motorist would deliberately take another person’s life, nor would he deliberately maim another. If he does either of these things through his own carelessness or neglect he will find it very difficult to absolve himself from blame, and the doing of it will probably 7 haunt him through life. The motorist’s slogan should therefore be ■‘Safety First”—and the thing which conies first under this safeguard is never to take out a car that has faulty brakes. The experience at Vancouver has been that a large number of the traffic accidents in 1926, coming under the notice of the Vancouver police, were due to this cause. Let motorists learn from this experience as shown in the annual report of the head of the traffic department there. Resulting from 7-129 traffic accidents the report says, 706 people received serious injuries, and twentytour people were killed. Ten of the latter were pedestrians who were run down by automobiles, and seven were passengers in death cars. Twelve men received fatal injuries, seven women and five children. MUST HAVE GOOD BRAKES. To date in the present year there have been twelve people killed and 204 people injured in automobile accidents in the City of Vancouver, and three automobile drivers have received long prison terms for manslaughter. How many of these fatalities could have been avoided had the brakes been in proper working order? one might ask. Perhaps all of them. "Under the Motor Act, every automobile is required to have at least two good and efficient brakes,” says Inspector Hood, "if this regulation is properly carried out many accidents could be prevented, which other wise could not he avoided, though, of course, good judgment and a clear ber.d ere n'so needed. The pelies

nave authority to prevent an automobile being driven which is known co have detective brakes"Should an automobile driver run a person down and kill him, the police must immediately arrest that driver and lay a charge of manslaughter against him. His car is immediately examined, and special attention piud to the condition of the braking system. If the brakes are defective, the case against the driver is so much worse. Every automobile driver should have the brakes of his ear regularly tested,” he added. There is no excuse for the man who tries to palm his responsibility for an automobile accident with the stock phrase: "My brakes wouldn't nold.” He is a twin brother to the man who “didn’t knojv it was loaded.” Brakes very rarely suddenly fail to hold, unless a brake rod snaps, which is not very often. The brake bands gradually wear down, and therefore need attention and adjustment from time to time. HAVE BRAKES ADJUSTED INTIME. Some automobile drivers continue driving their cars without any attention being given to the braking system. They carry on, not realising the danger they are to themselves and to others, until a serious accident brings a rude awakening. Poor orakes on an automobile give their warning a thousand times a day, especially in city traffic. Then is the time to have them adjusted, and, it necessary, relined. The cost is small when compared with damage claims, hospital and doctor bills. A few dollars will pay for the best brakelining and adjustment- Many garages in this city are giving free brake inspection service. The wise driver will take advantage of this service, and have his automobile brakes often inspected and tested.

It does not take long to have new brake bands put on a car with modern electrical equipment, such as many of the Vancouver garages have installed.

"Better Brakes” weeks have been carried out successfully in many Canadian and United States cities during the past year. Good results have been reported in practically every .case, especially in the reduction in the number of automobile accidents. Moral: “See to your brakes.”