THE MOTORIST

Northern Advocate, 15 September 1934, Page 6

THE MOTORIST

TESTING OF DRIVERS

A BRITISH ADVOCATE. SUPPORT OF FIGURES. “It is possible to make a discrimination between drivel's who are likely to be mischievous and those who are not, and the tests, as is so often the case, are largely ignored in this country while they are adopted very much more widely in other countries,” said Sir Ernest Graham Little, M.D., the member of the House of Commons for London University, during the course of the Road Bill debate.

“Their practical utility may, I think, be conveniently gauged by some figures, that were published two or three weeks ago by the director of the principal institute in Paris, who is himself one of the most eminent psychologists in the whole world, “If I quote some figures which have been given, it will be obvious that the practical application of these tests is not to be ignored. They show that the frequency of accidents caused by taxis, private cars, and lorries between 1921 and 1932 increased by 145 per cent. A series of figures for the corresponding year furnished by the General Transport Company of Paris, which is responsible for the omnibuses and trams of that city, show that the accidents due to collision were reduced by more than 30 per cent., and the gain to the com-

pany following those tests reached an average of 1,500,000 francs a year, “Somewhat similar figures are furnished in the case of some companies in America., In the Street Railway Omnibus Services of the Boston elevated Railway accidents were reduced by 35 per cent. The figures in the case of the Milwaukee Electric Railway were reduced from 14.1 to 0.6 per cent, in a year. “The test did more than reduce the rate of accidents. It sorted out the drivers who were likely to be mischievous from those who were not, and the register of selected persons fell to something like 3 per cent. The saving in the cost of the wear and tear of vehicles, again, represents a very large sum. “I am sure an advance would be better made by following along the line of medical science, and I am equally sure that much of the accident rate is caused by essential ignorance of quite simple biological facts on the part of motorists. It is not, peihaps, sufficiently realised that the time occupied in making a decision may make all the difference be r tween a fatal accident and an escape from an accident.

“That was tested very carefully in a group of drivers, and it was found that the best driver gained a half per cent, as compared with a less experienced and less able driver. That meant a saving of 30 feet. He could pull up at 30 miles an hour within a distance of 30 feet less than a man whose reaction time was half a second longer.

“The reaction time can be decreased. A decision can be retarded by a large number of quite innocent acts. A heavy dinner, a glass of beer, inattention, fatigue—all these unconscious factors may influence that very important circumstance. I think the Bill could be improved by paying some attention to what 1* have called the human factor, which is, I think, aptly demonstrated by statistics to be responsible for so large a proportion of accidents.”

ACROSS AUSTRALIA. Probably the greatest of its kind ever held in Australia, the Perth to Melbourne Centenary tour appears already to be assured of success. Very thorough arrangements are being made by the Royal Automobile Club of Western Australia, and already at least 50 cars have booked. The party will leave Perth about October 8, and in six weeks will cover 4632 miles in easy stages.f Each car will be inspected as early as possible before the tour by the club’s technical adviser, who will tell the owner if it is in fit condition for the journey. The club patrol van, fitted out as a travelling workshop, will follow the party in case of any breakdowns. The route has been surveyed and preparations have been made for accommodation and supplies.

Advice has been received by the Shell Company that instead of following the original route from Kalgoorie to Norseman and then on to Balladonia, it is proposed to follow the railway as far as Rawlinna and join the coast route at Cocklcbiddy Tank. It is not necessary to be a member of the dub to join the party, and the cost of the trip, including an entrance fee of £3/3/-, is not expected to exceed £SO for each car. Hence, the entire tour across the continent and back will cost only £lO a head if five passengers are carried.

Trouble is often experienced on stud type wire wheels having the securing nuts inside the spokes, owing to the wrench chipping the paint from lit'.', spokes. Measure the distance between the socket and the first bend of the wrench, and also the thickness of the wrench shaft. -Secure a piece; of rubber water hose of the correct inside diameter, cut it spirally, ami put it found the wrench shaft where it would touch the paint. The hose will stay in position without- tape.

AIR POLLUTION. SMOKE AND EXHAUST FUMES. DANGERS COMPARED. For more than a century England has been blighted by a pall of corrosive, sooty smoke from mariy thousand factory chimneys and several millions of private house chimneys, says a writer in “The Motor.” Whole towns are blackened, barren places where nothing but the hardy coltsfoot can grow. Stone buildings are corroded by the sulphurous smoke and a grey murk covers everything for miles around.

No wonder the National Smoke Abatement Society came into existence. Today the amount of smoke pollution is being reduced by the replacement of coal, the prime smoke producer, with electricity, gas, and oil, both in the factory and in the home. These factors, together with improved' designs of fires and furnaces giving more complete combustion, all contribute to the reduction, but the amount of smoke pollution remaining is still very undesirably large. Pollution of the atmosphere by exhaust fumes is something new. It is increasing in amount, and its importance, if any, is worth consideration. Exhaust gas pollution is vastly different from smoke pollution. It does not, like smoke, blacken towns, burn up crops, coiTode buildings, and blot out daylight, and what effect it may have is limited to certain parts of the towns where the conditions are favourable to its accumulation. Almost the worst that can be said is that its smell is unpleasant, particularly if cheap petrol or heavy oil is being used as the fuel. What dangers it does possess are solely due to its content of carbon monoxide —for we may neglect for the present any possibility of danger from the lead in doped petrol or the sulphur in Diesel fuel. Even poisons have their limits and below a certain concentration carbon monoxide is harmless for short periods. That limit is somewhere between 10 and 20 parts per 100,000 parts air; at that concentration a continuous exposure of several hours is necessary for any noticeable effect. On The Open Road.

On the open road and in the country there is no danger whatever, for it is impossible under the conditions existing, there for the concentration to build up to anything like the danger point. The complaints that are made of the smell are not criterion of the amount of pollution, for the smell for instance, from a Diesel-engined bus can hang about long after the exhaust fumes have diffused away. The smell is probably quite harmless, but the poisonous carbon monoxide has no smell whatever and can only be detected chemically or by its effects.

In towns and cities conditions are entirely different. Streets are narrow and shut in by high buildings on each side and the number of motor vehicles in a given area is far greater than in the country. .Traffic jams involving perhaps 50 or vehicles are not infrequent in the big cities, where the volume of traffic is always excessive. It is a matter of simple calculation .to show that, under suitable conditions of amount, nature, and speed of traffic, architecture of the locality, absence of wind and correct temperature conditions, the amount of carbon monoxide in the atmosphere may be substantially increased. The empirical figure so obtained, however, is much higher than obtained by actual tests made in London, Berlin, Chicago, and elsewhere, where the traffic conditions are the most extreme in the world. In Berlin, for instance, out of 101 tests 95 gave results showing less than 15 parts, of carbon monoxide in 100,000 parts air. This amount is absolutely harmless to the pedestrian, but mightj affect traffic police br others who are exposed to the worst atmospheres for prolonged periods. Thus when pollution by exhaust gases is examined it loses its importance. It is quite harmless except in the most extreme or unusual traffic conditions, and even then there is no danger to the pedestrian.

According to a •Scottish newspaper, there will he lid,ooo caravans tonring the countryside this summer. The majority of them, no doubt, will he (owed hy light ears.

A UNIFORM CODE,

MOTORING MADE EASIER. PROGRESS IN CALIFORNIA, Equipped with a knowledge of the traffic laws in his own "home town,” the Californian motorist has little difficulty now in observing the regulations in effect in other California cities, due to the general adoption of the uniform traffic ordinance sponsored and advocated by the California State Automobile Association, states the San Francisco Chronicle.

Scores of communities embracing more than 70 per cent, of the population of the State are now handling traffic on their streets under this standardised set of laws.

Before this degree of uniformity was achieved, it is pointed out, motorists were frequently in trouble, their unfamiliarity with the varying regulations between one city and another subjecting them to citations, fines, and other annoyances resulting from unintentional violations of traffic rules. With the uniform traffic ordinance in effect in practically every community in the State large enough to require a set of regulations for the handling of traffic, it is emphasised that ignorance of the law can seldom be reasonably offered as an excuse by motorists when they are cited for an infraction. Law enforcement authorities report that a large proportion of motorists cited for traffic violations were either careless or had failed to familiarise themselves with the laws governing operation of a motor car, particularly in cities. Because the principal -traffic laws are identical in approximately 80 per cent, of the larger cities in California, motorists who know the laws of their home locality and who drive accordingly when away from home on a tour are practically certain not to have any difficulty. Since California motorists frequently travel outside the State, # the automobile association has supported efforts to have similar uniform traffic rules adopted in cities along the lemainder of the Pacific Coast and throughout the West. The California ordinance also conforms closely to the model municipal traffic ordinance for ( cities throughout the United States. BELGIAN ROADS. RING OF CONCRETE. A new plan for motor roads in Belgium was explained by M. Pieree van Deuren at a meeting arranged at Brussels by the Union Routierb de Belgique. The roads would have a breadth of 18 metres (59ft), which would be divided into two one-way sections, each for three lines of traffic. The most important innovation, however, would be the raising of these roads to a height of 5 metres (just over 16ft) above ground level, the superstructure of reinforced concrete with parapets being supported by posts at 5-metre intervals. In this way, all obstacles in the form of old roads, rivers, canals, railways, and so on would be surmounted.

Built in the form of a big circular boulevard, totalling 850 kilometres (530 miles), to unite all the roads between Brussels and provincial capitals, the new motor road system would, in effect, enclose the country with a ring of reinforced concrete. .Further, in the event of a war, new roads would greatly facilitate the rapid movement of troops, fer 20-ton lorries could run at 70 k.p.h. (43| ra.p.h.) and passenger cars at 120 k.p.h. (74 1 m.p.h.). Instead, the construction would be financed partly by the Government and partly by the issue of a road loan, on which interest would be assured by an annual tax of 100 francs (about £4 10/) per user. Real estate companies would acquire the land and in return would have the right to exploit the premises under the road without payment. DANGER TO DRIVERS.

DISFIGURED WINDSCREENS,

The Automobile Association (Wellington) is concerned with the large number of cars operating .with .disfigurement of some kind to windscreens, due in a number of cases to accidents, in others to ordinary w r ear and tear.

When driving in the'daytime under normal light conditions with any disfigurement on a windscreen, visibility is obscured, while at night-time the obstruction to visibility is very much worse. Particularly is this the case tinder tog or rain conditions and on black bitumen roads.

Very often disfigurement on a windscreen. will commence with a small patch and gradually extend. When this happens there is a tendency on the part of the car owner gradually to become accustomed to see through a disfigurement; but however accustomed he does become, obscured visibility is extremely dangerous and the driver himself is taking undue risks. Some time ago the association appealed to motor car drivers to ensure that windscreens were always kept clean, but the permanent disfigurement of windscreens is a much more serious and permanent disability so far as the driver is concerned.

That the average driver has become very casual in attention to ordinary details of maintenance is reflected in statistics recently issued overseas. Out of 200,000 motor vehicles tested on a special machine, OS ont of; every .100 had faulty ignition timing, 00 had plugs that were inefficient, and 07 had badly pitted breaker points.

Sometimes a. motor car engine will not idle properly, even though the ignition system and carburettor have been chocked, and the spark plugs cleaned and adjusted. In such a. case it may be found that the timing chain has become So badly worn that the camshaft can rock two or three teeth on the chain without jumping completely out of time with the crankshaft. The fitting of a now chain will then cure the trouble.

Dirt track racing with miniature racing cars, which has achieved great popularity as a sport, in England, may bo introduced to Melbourne, shortly. Negotiations have already been open-

oil with several well-known ..racing drivers in Melbourne to handle these little ears, which arc small replicas of full-sized racing cars. Capable of comparatively high speeds and rapid acceleration, these ears are ideal for racing on small cinder tracks.