MOTORING NOTES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 1 September 1932, Page 9

MOTORING NOTES

PREVENTION OF MOTOR ACCIDENTS apportioning responsibility (By Gerald Ely, London, for “The Mail”). It is pood news that the Minister of Transport in Britain is to inaugurate at once an inquiry into the causes of fatal road accidents. This is a course of action that lias been too long delayed, and it is to be welcomed not only as a measure of public safety, but in the interests, also, of the whole motoring movement. It may be readily admitted that too many accidents occur in which motor vehicles of one kind or another are concerned, and the real tragedy is that in the vast majority of cases these accidents are of a preventible nature. There is nothing intrinsically vicious about a car and serious breakdowns of the mechanism, leading to bad accidents, are so rare that they may lie dismissed as an important contributory cause of the high incidence of road fatalities. That, at any rate, is the view of those who have given the matter such study as lies in their power As far as the mechanical aspects of accidents are concerned, these can be classified under two or three heads. Failure of the steering is one of them, but I tVink the inquiry will prove that this is an extremely rare form of trouble.

Next may be placed failure of the brakes which is unfortunately anything but rare, but here it is difficult to! dissociate the mechanical element com- i pletely from the human element. Brake' failure is usually preceded by a period of inefficient operation which the cautious motorist deals with before a serious accident occurs. This is, however, one of the points upon which it is hoped the inquiry will shed some light, If inefficient brakes are found to form a substantial contributory cause of bad accidents it is clear that the authorities will require to take much more stringent action against car owners who knowingly go out on a public highway with brakes that are not in tip-top condition. BRAKE TESTS Under the Road Traffic Act the police have power to stop any car and make the owner test his brakes in their presence. But I have yet to hear of more than an isolated case in which a motorist has been stopped by the police for that purpose. As I look at the mass of motor regulations lying on my desk I am convinced that it would be in the public interest if half of them were cancelled, and the 'remainder more strictly enforced. It is true that the car owner, who drives a car with defective brakes, is guilty of criminal negligence, and I am afraid that there is little use in making appeals to the better nature of such motorists. The only course is to make them realise that they are liable to be caught out by the police at any moment. If, instead of stopping car owners, to make sure their licence has not lapsed—usually a matter of forgetfulness—the police were to stop them as frequently to test their brakes, an immediate diminution in road casualties would probably be discernible. Another cause of serious accident is the burst front tyre which is apt to wrench the steering wheel out of the driver’s hand, but this type of mishap is fortunately also very rare, and it can only seldom be traced to failure of a tyre in good condition. Here again the" human element sets in, for it is undoubtedly negligent to drive a car with tyres that are so worn that impact with a sharp obstacle is sufficient to deflate it with the suddenness that alone makes a tyre burst dangerous. Tho Road Traffic Act makes worn tyres an offence also, but as in the case of defective brakes, it never seeems to occur to tho police to take action. Far be it from me to suggest that motorists should be harrassed by the police to an even greater extent than they are at present, but I certainly think it would help to reduce road casualties if the police cast an eye occasionally on stationary vehicles and warned the driver to see to his tyres if they were obviously in a dangerous condition. SKIDDING DANGER It is not only that worn tyres are more likely to burst than those with a good tread, but that they are a contributory cause of another highly dangerous condition, namely, skidding. Motorists do not pay sufficient attention to tho state of the road when they take their cars out. They know well enough not to brake or accelerate suddenly or to take a corner too fast when a road is slippery or greasy, but even in ordinary driving skids develop because some drivers cannot distinguisli between road surfaces by the “feel” of the car.

Without going into the technical aspects of road construction it appears to me that a rough, coarse-grained tarmacadam road is safer in wet weather than one of those smooth roads that are slippery enough even when they are dry. A smooth, greasy road is dangerous enough even with tyres that are in good condition, but such roads allied to worn tyres are veritable death traps. If the inquiry to be set up by the Transport Ministry elicits accurate information as to these and other causes of road accidents, we shall be on the way to reducing the toll of the road substantially. My own forecast is, however, that the inquiry will find that the human element is mainly responsible for the overwhelming proportion of road accidents, and by the human element I mean not only lack of judgment on the part of drivers, but on the part of pedestrians. It is really important to apportion the degree of blame as between motorist and pedestrian, not merely to demolish the theory that cars are-responsible for all the accidents but to apply preventive measures. If the fault is in the majority of cases proved to be that of the driver, he must obviously be, more severely dealt with than at present; but if, as many of us suspect, other road users, such as pedestrians, cyclists (pedal and motor), motor lorries, and even dogs,' are in the aggregate to blame for the greater proportion of accidents, more effective steps will require' to be taken in their case. I include dogs because I think that the owner of a dog who permits it to run about unattended in the middle of a modern motor highway is as guilty of a misdemeanour as if he had suddenly thrown a large boulder in front of a passing car. MOTOR RALLY SUCCESS It is pleasing to record that the Scottish Motor Rally was voted a complete success by almost everybody concerned. Some of the entrants were inclined to complain at being taken over a few of the less perfect Scottish roads, but on the whole, they were probably ready to agree that any little discomfort suffered was more than made up

by the wonderful scenery they were able to see. In all there were 164 entries, from starting points in London, Droitwieh, Harrogate, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen. The event was of the free and easy type, no penalties being incurred for arriving at the controls in advance of schedule time. Drivers in the small car class (up to ; 1500 c.c.) had to average 22 ni.p.h., i whilst those in the large car class were required to maintain 25 m.p.h. If they cared to go faster that was no concern of the organisers. It would be difficult to imagine a happier event, in a more ideal setting. In view of the publicity value of such an event—it was an excellent boost for the “Come to Scotland” campaign, it will not be surprising if Wales and Ireland decide to inaugurate Rallies of their own. But the Scottish rally was more than a mere joy ride. It held a large element of the reliability trial, and at the end there were some special tests of acceleration and braking, re-starting on a steep hill and “kerb driving”. To gain full marks in the latter test drivers had to draw up with both near-side wheels within 5 inches of a kerb, no marks being awarded if either wheel touched the kerb. The difficulty of this test is shown by the fact that about, threequarters of the competitors failed in it. In the large car class a Hudson made the best performance, an Alvis being second, and an ArmstrongSiddeley third. The small car class was won on a Riley while another Riley tied with a Crossley for second I place. I I hear that among the features which | will be seen on the new models of one I large firm of British manufacturers for 1033 are such mechanical developments as controlled free wheeling and an extremely simple and fascinating form of gear change. It is claimed that this is the first time these features have been included in a car of moderate price.