MOTORISTS' OFFENCES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21116, 25 February 1932, Page 5

MOTORISTS' OFFENCES.

CUTTING CORNERS. Complaints received by the traffic department of the City Council that motor- . jsts are in the habit of cutting the corner of Jervois Road and Heine Bay intersection have led to the chief traffic inspector, Mr. G. llogan, recommending that a silent policeman b% placed at the intersection. One of the worst, dangers to motorists and pedestrians is caused by the driver who cuts a corner. In both town and country it is the same, and although it is possible for a good driver to allow for un- / expected occurrences in taking a corner, he canviot avoid a car which has deprived him of his prerogative in keeping to the left hand side of the road. The pedestrian who steps out front behind a tram and looks for an expected line of traffic would be caught unawares by the motorist cutting a corner and coming pp behind him. Serious accidents have occurred all over the world from t lie thoughtless actions of reckless motorists in failing to keep to the correct side of the 1 ■ road when rounding a bend. They can indeed be termed reckless, but it is moro Jrue to state that they are reckless with •Other people's lives, .not their own. Two other serious and dangerous praciices are cutting-in by the motorist and jay-walking by the pedestrian. Both of them have caused innumerable accidents, and the latter is considered a serious offence by the police in America. With the large number of cars oil the roads at .--the present time . cutting-in can involve three or even four cars in an accident that cannot fail 'to extract a human toll Of lives. VERTICAL AND SLOPING KERBS. With the improvement of the main arterial roads in the Auckland Province, local bodies have provided many miles ol f9otpaths with vertical stone kerbs. For many years overseas engineers have insisted that vertical kerbs are necessary alongside roads. Automobile associations and riiotorists generally contend that they are not. Continental road makers have, found that they can manage •with no kerbs at all, and throughout the Midlands of England it is considered that a sloping kerb is as effective and much safer than one which is vertical. A motor vehicle is required to park as close to the kerb as possible, and many drivers have experienced damage to tyres in bumping the kerb while trying to got close. The, result of incurring this damage is that the next time they park further out, with the result that moving traffic is obstructed. Another feature is that if a vehicle is travelling on the lefthand side of the road, there is not a great deal of clearance in the event of a 1 skid or a swerve, and serious damage invariably results to the wheels of the car. There is also every possibility of the vehicle/ capsizing, with consequent serious results to the occupants. CYLINDER LUBRICATION. Of all the working parts of a motorcar engine, the pistons undoubtedly present the greatest difficulty in regard to adequate lubrication. When an engine is thoroughly warm conditions are reasonably good, because the oil is thin and is thrown around inside the crankcase in considerable quantities. A great deal of it naturally comes irito contact with the cylinder walls, particularly the lower —■ parts thereof. The upper part ol each bore depends for lubrication, upon oil which is carried up by the moving piston, and it is difficult to strike a happy medium in the piston ring design so that, while lubrication is adequate, oil does not actually pass upwards in any quantity into the combustion chamber, where it would be .wasted and cause smoking. Another important point is that when an engine is cold the oil is so sluggish that quite an appreciable time may elapse before any lubricant reaches the cylinder walls. During this time the pistons are rubbing up and down in practically j- a dry condition. Tests have shown that in these circumstances considerable wear can occur in a short time, particularly if an inconsiderate driver expects an engine to pull the, car on tlie road with scarcely any preparatory warming up. Naturally, the efficient lubrication and fit, of piston£, > bores and rings prevents the crankcase oil from passing info the combustion chambers and thereby automatically reduces the rate at which carbon is formed. OLD BODY IN USE. Pemarkablp testimony to the quality and .•Strength of construction of. a body is to fee found in the case of a car belonging to the Earl of Derby. The ( coach work in ■question is a Hooper limousine body, which ,was originally supplied to Lord Derby in 1905 and Was then fitted to a Napier chassis. Since then iU has been transferred twice,, and, although over 60 years old, j R still in use. Apart from its wearing qualities, the comfort of this body must be something out of the ordinary for it to have been retained in service for Bo long. NOTES. It. is estimated that there arc over 90,000 fuel pumps in Great Britain. Petrol consumption in the United Slates •during 1931 was 14.364 million gallons. Five million motor-cars and motortrucks are owned by farmers in America. Exports of British motor-vehicles and tyres were well in advance of imports during 1031. The motor export trade of the United States declined -by 40 per cent, in 1031 compared with 1930. Semaphore and light signals were in use in Rridge Street, New Palace Yard, England, as far back as 1863. They were introduced for. the benefit of pedestrians. A Frenchman was fined at Coventry, England, for Bearing the life out of a number of motor-drivers by insisting on kecping on the right-hand side of the road. He was trying to follow the off-side rule. Experiments have been conducted in 'America with a device which is mounted on the running board just in front of the rear wheel, and projects exhaust-blown Band under the wheel to prevent skidding. According to an ordinance issued by the Governor of Pome, a fresh campaign against noise started with the New Year. It is now illegal for drivers of motor- ' Vehicles to sound their horns between the hours of 12.30 a.m. and 6 a.m. within the city bounds. The invention of safety glass is said to have seen its origin in the dropping of a bottle by Edouard Benedictus, a FrancoDutch chemist. Tie bottle had contained * mixture of various chemicals, which had « e ft a hard, transparent film inside; this film prevented the glass from shattering.