MOTORING WORLD

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVI, Issue 164, 12 June 1926, Page 14

MOTORING WORLD

She: “Now what aro you stopping forP” Ho (as car oomes to halt): “I’ve lost my bearings.” She: “Well, at least you aro original. Most fellows run out of gasl”

Thor© are over 1,177,000 motor vehicles in Great Britain. Nearly 500,000 are private motor cars. There are about 339,000 motor cycles ;and 233,000 commercial vehicles exclusive of taxicabs. After a band of motorists demonstrated how slow 10 m.p.h. really is, by driving in procession down the Sromonado in an English city, it was ecided not to impose a speed limit. Dublin authorities have decided to romove all kerbside petrol pumps from streets within the borough mrea. Licenses will be renewed only until March, 1927. In Worcester, England, the city surveyor has been empowered to take steps for the removal of pumps from the- kerbs. During October, 1925, £36,203 worth of British motor-cycles and £9232 worth of American machines were imported into Australia. . ,* It is; stated that' the number of motor cyclos in use .in the Union of South Africa increased from 19,819 to roughly 23,000 during 1925. An American firm’s testing ground has 1} miles of straight track, a threemile fast road circuit, 1J miles of really had road, and a colonial section, complete with watersplash. A South African long-jump record of 37ft. was recently made by the rider of an American machine at a four-cylinder gymkhana recently. A machino has jumped 41ft. in England. A movement is on foot in Canada to secure a reduction of the duties payable on motor-cycles imported from Great Britain and the United States, which at present stand at about 40 per cent.

As a protest against the impost on petrol in the tanks of all motorvehicles entering Paris, the Paris Automobile Club recently insisted upon, the octroi officials carrying out in •detail all the ten procedures embodied in the regulations. The value of the motor roads and the motor vehicles in the United States exceeds that of the railways. A Wanganui motorist who recently paid a visit to Taranaki collected five

“blue papers” in the course of his trip. These souvenirs were all the result of minor by-law infringements in various Taranaki towns. It was 1 quite an expensive outing. A German engineer claims to have discovered a new process by means of which it is possible to alloy aluminium with certain other metals such as manganese, cobalt, zinc and gold, the resulting alloys having a highlyglazed scratch-proof surface, impervious to corrosion. A material of this type might prove very useful for many parts of a motor-cycle where a hard, smooth finish is desired. Obviously, enamelling costs, or the expense of plating, would be done away with, while cleaning should be easy. An Auckland magistrate is taking advantage of the far-reaching section of the Motor Vehicles Act which allows- endorsement and suspension of driving licenses for dangerous driving, it is a very effective method of impressing irresponsible drivers with the consequences of recklessness. Endorsement is not permitted for a first or second offence consisting solely of exceeding a speed limit. An endorsement may be recorded on a driver’s license for three years after the offence. It is a breach of tho Act for an applicant for a license to omit to disclose a previous endorsement. CAUSES OF ACCIDENT. An interesting analysis of the causes of motor accidents has been drawn up by a British insurance company. It shows that 20 per cent, of all accidents occur during lighting-up hours, and 80 per cent, during daylight; 81 per cent, happen in a town or village and 19 per cent, in the open country; 9 per cent, at junctions of cross-roads, and 14 per cent, at junctions other than cross-roads. Other percentages aro 6 per cent, at bends of roads, 6 per cent, overtaking and passing in tho same direction vehicles other than tramcars, 3 pef cent, in connection with tramcars, per cent, pedal cyclists, 4 per cent, pedestrians, 1 per cent, dogs, 3 per cent, horses and cattle, 3 per cent. through incorrect signalling or absence of signals, 14 per cent, through skidding, and 1 per cent, through blinding headlights. TAXATION OF MOTORS. EXPENDITURE ON HIGHWAYS. INCREASED GRANTS URGED. CHRISTCHURCH, June 8. “That tho power of the Main Highways Board be so extended as to give it greater scope in tho efficient spending of money raised by motor taxes for roads.” This was a resolution moved by Mr B. Falck and carried at a meeting of the council of the Canterbury Automobile Association. Mr Falck said the matter was first brought' up at the Nelson conference, and it was then decided to secure opinions from the associations of the South Island Motor Union. Very little money was being spent in spite of tho fact that motorists were paying heavy taxes. Practically all the money that had been spent was spent on the Mount Cargill road ancl no spent in the South Island. Mr W. It. Carey said a suggestion had been made that further direct taxation should be placed on the shoulders of tho motorist. _ The incidence of taxation was unfair. The tax should be imposed on some wearing part of a car, such as the tyres ; at per' pound weight, and not according to cost. A man who seldom used his car should not have to pay as much tax as a motorist who used his car daily. The chairman, Mr W. H. Nicholson, said the Highways Board had not the power under the Act to spend the money satisfactorily. He said that motorists were paying £SO per mile per annum for every gazetted road and there were 6000 miles in tho Dominion altogether. STATE OF THE ROADS. The following report on tho state of the main roads lias been issued: Weliington-Palmerston North. Johnsonvdle to Porirua, very bad, pot holes and corrugation. Porirua to Paremata, very good. Parcmata to 25 miles peg, road under repair; small slips. Prom 25 miles peg to Paekakanivi, fair. Paekakariki to Otaki, corrugated, very bad in Paraparaumu. Otala to Levin, first class scaled road. Levin to Palmerston North, metalled, fair condition. i Foxton-Palmerston North. —Good. Foxton-Bulis. —Good Bfills-Taihape.—i l air. Palmerston North to Bulls, fair. Culverts being replaced. , Bulls- Wanganui.-yFair. I Wangunui-ilaetihi. To Glenn’s Junction,- good. i‘iom Glenn’s June- 1 tion, road not open lor motor traffic during winter months. TuumurUnui-Te Kuiti.—lmpassable. H*w'i.'—'-»-- i iokono, —■ Fairly good.

Road rough. Ten miles north Ngaruawahia full of pot holes. Pokeno-Auckland. —Fair. Wanganui-New Plymouth.—Good. Road being' repaired between Waverlev and Waitotara.

New Plymouth-Te Kuiti.—Fair. Between Mokau and Te Kuiti not in good order. Palmerston North-Napier.—Good. Slips recently in Manawatu Gorge. Napier-Wairoa-Gisborne.—Good. Napier-Taupo.—Good. Taupo-Rotorua.—Fair, part being metalled now. Taupo-Tirau.—Bad; chains required. Ratorua-Hamilton. —Impassable via Manakau. Via Atiamuri, bad, chains required. MOTORISTS’ EYESIGHT. That defective vision is a contributing factor to the enormous list of motoring casualties in the United States is suggested by the New York Outlook. It quotes an authoritative estimate that six persons out of every ten in the States have reduced visual perception and this summary, of course, includes drivers of motors'. “The unfortunate part is that many persons with poor vision are entirely unaware of their defect. Because they have always seen objects in a blur or distorted, they believe that is how they should be seen. Obviously, the remedy is some sort of tes/t to be given to applicants for drivers’ licenses. This might even be so simple a matter as the reading of automobile licenses or street signs at the time the trial for driving ability is given. Those persons, then, who fall below a certain standard are refused a permit until their eyesight has been brought up to the standard ,or, if that proves impossible, the permit should be permanently refused. The American Medical Association has recently made very definite recommendations pertaining to minimum-visual requirements. Surely the menace to the public of a ton or two of steel being hurled about in our streets under the control of a driver with a marked degree of defective vision is a serious matter. It should not be difficult to persuade the public in general, the State authorities in particular, as to the advisability of testing the eyes of all persons at the time of their application for drivers licenses.” CARRYING SPARE PARTS. There are many different solutions to the puzzle of carrying spare parts in safety and silence, but often great difficulty is experienced by small car owners with regard to breakable spares, such as lamp bulbs and so forth. Where space and pocket allow, elaborate containers may be purchased, but for the average motorist the suggestion below will be fonnd both inexpensive and compact. Obtain a stout wooden box, the dimensions of which should depend upon the number of spares it is required to hold, and plane down a block of soft wood

so that it just slides into the box and completely fills it. With a brace and bit bore holes in this wood on each face to such depths and diameters that the parts they are to contain may drop in and remain a fraction below the top of tho hole. Holes intended to accommodate lamp bulbs should be bored slightly deeper and have cotton wool packed in the _ bottom. The spares being placed in their alloted places, the wood block fits into the box, which, when shut, leaves very little room for rattle or breakage. With a box fitted in this way, it is possible to carry four spare plugs, two head and two side lamp bulbs. MOTOR FACTORY AFIRE. 20,000 IDLE. LONDON, May 29. . The Renault motor factory in Paris has been partially destroyed by fire, throwing 20,000 wiii’kers idle. This disaster followed the settlement of a lock-out, whereby M. Renault is to pay tho workers according to their ability, no minimum being fixed. M. Renault personally led his own fire-fighters, and greatly hepled to check the flames.