MOTORING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23121, 20 August 1938, Page 16 (Supplement)

MOTORING

BY FOCUS

OUTSTANDING AUCKLAND EXAMPLES

POOR' driving, the result either of lack of skill, nervousness, or an uncompromising attitude at present popular on the Continent, "They shall not pass," adds to the difficulties of motoring in any large city. As cities go, Auckland is small, but here these difficulties are often acute, and recent instances have shown conclusively just how one driver, by his or her poor performance, can upset others and cause general confusion* Careful noto of glaring examples of bad driving has been kept whilo motoring in the city and suburbs in recent weeks. So many cases were seen that it is impossible to enumerate them all, but some of the most flagrant deserve special mention. A womin driver of a small car, travelling on a main road toward the citv, caused a near accident when she extended the right direction-indicator of her car, and then went straight on, ignoring her own signal. Following cars, having seen the extended arm, had already veered to the left, and there was a series of abrupt stops when the woman suddenly changed her mind. When challenged on point, she stoutly asserted that she had every right to change her mind, and claimed that she had been guilty of no bad driving. The others concerned did not agree, for obvious reasons. Intent on avoiding two cars, parked end-on to tlio kerb on either side of his own machine in Broadway, Newmarket, a motorist this week failed to realise what a nuisance he was making of himself. He was apparently so engrossed with his task of hacking out straight and not scraping mudguards, that ho very nearly backed into a tram, furious gouging from the driver of the tram, which was almost stopped, saving the situation at tho last moment. Embarrassed, the motorist promptly stalled his motor, and looked round with a sickly grin at the stead-ily-growing line of cars all held up by his inefficiency. > Next on the list is a taxi-driver. He was travelling from Parnell along the main road toward Newmarket, and at the foot of Khyber Pass made no attempt to give way to traffic coming down Khybef Pass and turning to the right. Attempting to "bullock" his way through, he met a driver as resolute as himself, and one who incidentally had the right of the road and knew it. The result was an abrupt halt on tho ?>art of the taxi; a small penalty for a requent offence. A smartly-dressed girl, perhaps one of Auckland's "bright young things," at the wheel of a particularly well-kept small car, also caused a certain measure of bother. She was parked in Queen Street, and her actions were watched, as it happens, fairly closely. Entering her car, she first depressed the clutch, then turned on the ignition, and touched the starter! With the motor running nicely, she released the brake

Glaring Cases o

and engaged the clutch, apparently imagining that she had left the gearlever in low. Unfortunately, it was in reverse, and tho car shot backward with a rush, to the humorous but none the less genuino surprise and dismay of a man crossing the road immediately behind it. All this because the driver did not make sure of the gear she had engaged. The list might be continued almost, indefinitely. There was the driver, a middle-aged man, who was ahead of a faster car in 'Upper Queen Street. When a blast on tho horn, quite a mild one. merely to ask politelv for room to overtake, was given by tlie following driver, the man ahead pulled as far as possible to the right, running within inches of a tramcar travelling in the same direction. A momentary disregard of tho regulations, a snap of tho gear-lever into third and a stab on the accelerator took the overtaking car past on the inside, to the indignation of the ihcivil one. _ A trivial incident, perhaps, but one involving two breaches of the law, neither of them necessary. Although ho kept out of trouble, in that he was not actually concerned in a collision, a man driving an old model allowed his love of animals to interfere with his common-sense. A car was seen taking a most erratic course, along Park Road at a busy hour. A following driver did not dare try to pass, so much was the car -in front swerving, but he approached close enough to see through the rear window that the driver was not intoxicated, but was steering with one hand, while with the other ho held a large dog, that leaped and _ plunged with tho greatest enthusiasm The cases of poor or inconsiderate driving mentioned are only a few of the large number seen. They serve, however, to lend support to a recent complaint bv a visitor who, for good reasons, had to remain anonyitious. He said that New Zealand drivers were, in his opinion, road-users rather than motorists, a trite observation which seems to sum up the position well.