NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20217, 30 March 1929, Page 10 (Supplement)

NOTES.

! The latest return®! show that one person j in. twenty-six in Great Britain owns a | motor vehicle. Accessories and spare par's imported I into New Zealand during January were 1 vaiiied at £20.626. Motor tvres and tubes imported into X£.-,v Zealand during January were valued at £127.365. an increase of one-third on the vajue in the corresponding month of last vear. i • The vacuum tan!:, for several years an almost universal fitting on American cars, has had its popularity seriously challenged Ly pump feed during the last year. Of 44 different makes of 1929 model American car; 19 have adcoted fuel pumps in place oi vacuum tanks. I It is estimated that an electric traffic J control to be installed at Eastwood Toll, ! a basv crossing just outside Paisley, in \ Scotland, will effect a saving of £430 a | vear! The cost of controlling the traffic at the crossing by police methods amounted to £c(X3 & year. Of the 44 different makes of 1929 model cars produced in the United States, 23 are I eight-cvlinder chassis. Nine oi the 23 makes are also produced under the same name in six-cylinder types, and there are ! in addition 17 firms which produce sixcvlinder models exclusively, two producing both sixes and fours, and two factories making four alone. Traffic regulations, just put into effect in Berlin, specify 25 of the main streets as " streets of the first order." No parking is allowed in these streets between 8 a.m. and 11 p.m.; neither are cyclists allowed to use these thoroughfares during

the same period. The maximum speed permissible has been increased from 55 kiioms. to 40 kilorns. an hour. When paying the £1 fee for compulsory insurance in -May, motorists should bo careful not to nominate any insurance company at random. Provided that the money is nominated for a company in which the motorist now holds a comprehensive policy a portion or it will be recoverable v.hen renewal of the existing policy is effected. In this respect compulsory insurance is not an addition to the expense of motoring. Tho experience of tho Auckland Aero Club with its two Gipsy Moth machines shows that the claim of 20 miles per gallon can be fuliy substantiated. These light engines have a consumption of about four gallons per hour. The average time between overhauls with this class of power plant is about 350 hours. At a speed of 80 rn.p.h., this represents 23,000 miles. It is a striking fact that many largo aero engines consume their own weight, in fuel every hours. A TRAFFIC TANGLE. Traffic got into difficulties on tho approach to the Mangerc speedway last Saturday and the police were very emphatic that it should proceed in only one line. Tho police argument was that there would be trouble if a car caught fire, and for this reason a perfectly good clay road alongside tho metal surface was out of hound-. It was obvious to any motor driver that in this extreme emergency a car could havo been safely cleared even with two lines of traffic. Tho narrow confines of tho long approach to .Muriwai Beach allow room for one car only and iri tho event of fire the position would be decidedly more difficult than could have occurred with two lines at Mangerc. Two lines of traffic to and from tins speedway would have kept the vehicles in motion and a moving vehicle does not catch fire, 'there is infinitely more risk in keeping cars packed in a lino with a dozen starts and stops occurring in less than a mile. The clumsy driver juggling with his starter, ignition, arid choke, introduces tho hazard of fire. Everybody would prefer to see him kept moving.