ROAD REPAIRS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19508, 11 December 1926, Page 10 (Supplement)

ROAD REPAIRS.

CARELESS LOCAL WORK. Some, local coacls are being converted into mild switchbacks through the careless filling of cuttings which have been made for pipe-laying or for electric cables. Good roads within a mile of the city are torn up by authorities who do not take proper precautions to consolidate the cuttings. If taken at speed these roads jeopardise the springs. It is obvious that it is left to motor traffic to flatten the fillings in these culverts. To provide for this it is usual to leave plenty of superfluous material heaped above the road level. There is need for more exacting supervision of work of this nature. The continuity of a good tar-sealed surfaco is often broken for the convenience of drain laying, and then patched with a filling of tarred chips. THE HEAVY HAND. Motorists who visited the motor-cycle hill climb at Mount Roskill last Saturday were considerably surprised at the police efforts to control parking in May Road. One constable refused to permit cars to stand in a single line even when the owners were sitting in them. The street was actually wide enough to permit double-line parking, and it was quite unnecessary to keep the full width of the road clear. Most motorists moved their cars with a bad grace since the street was carrying practically no through traffic.

For many years the police have tolerated' worse conditions in many city streets. Dozens of cars park in 'the Ladies' Mile when there is a race meeting at Ellerslie, but for some reason i't was decreed that motorists had no right to halt on the highway for a few minutes to witness a motor-cycle test. Since there is no by-law prohibiting' parking in this locality it is a question whether the police had any right to order attended cars off the road when there was no suggestion of traffic obstruction. Certainly, the constable was quite courteous with his in-, structions, but the occasion and the locality would have justified a deal more latitude ' without any inconvenience to users of the road.

IfOTES.

" I see you've got a new car. What sort of a bus is it?" "An incubus."

The price of petrol in England varies from Is 6d r to Is 8d a gallon according to the locality. Benzole mixtures cost Id extra.

The Americans are expert at coming phrases.- They are now referring to petrol which has been "doped" with lead tetra-ethyl as "leaded gas."

Officer (picking np pedestrian): "Did you gat the number of the car ?" Victim: " Yes, butt never mind. It was my cook's machine and I don't want any trouble with her."

Judge: " Why did yon ran down this man in broad daylight on a perfectly straight stretch of road?" Prisoner: " Your Honor, my windscreen was almost totally obscured with safety first stickers." .

Touristj in Western town: " I suppose hundreds of men died here with their boots on in the old days?" Old-timer: " There's just as many now, but instead of six-shooters it's six-cylinders that gets, 'em. Our traffic's awfully busy."

Waste oil taken from the crank cases of automobiles is to be used by the Florida board of health in combating mosquitoes. , Garages in all cities are being asked to save the oil. It will be used to saturate sacks of mixed sawdust and sand, which will be planted in bodies of water where mosquitoes congregate.

The American automobile industry now embraces only 45 makes of cars and this variety will be exhibited at the National Motor Show , in New York in January'. At the Olympia Show in October, 70 British makes were displayed. " The dwindling number of American makes is adding to the stability of the survivors and it is obvious that the 70 British factories cannot all prosper. If the 70 British makes could be reduced to 45 the industry would be decidedly healthier and some old established firms might derive a new lease of life. As far as Britain is concerned there is too much competition in the industry, and there are 20 or 30 small selling cars which would not be missed.

There does not seem to be any authority to compel a motorist to supervise the removal of debris from the highway in the event of an accident to his car. Probably the law considers that the motorist whose car is damaged is too agitated to pay much attention to broken glass and other puncture agents. The fact remains that broken glass from headlamps or windscreens can be found "on the main streets almost every day. Nobody attends to its removal, and probably two or three punctures are the sequel to this carelessness. It its illegal to throw a bottle on the street, but the motorist who leaves a mass of broken.glass on the road breaks no law. He merely offends against the courtesies of the high why. In many American states a motorist. who walks away or is driven from the scene of an accident .without having cleared away the debris, is liable to a fine ranging from £2O to £IOO. The only valid excuse is that personal injury caused the oversight.