Behind ihe Wheel

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23169, 15 October 1938, Page 12 (Supplement)

Behind ihe Wheel

Distinguishable All Jewish motor-car owners in Germany will in futuro have special distinguishing numbers placed on their cars. Traffic Exhibition An international traffic exhibition will bo held in Cologne in 1941), its aim being to advance the closest possible relationship between travel on land, sea and in the air. Talk in Millions Starting with the first experimental unit, it took the automobile industry as a whole until 1912 to produce a total of ft million cars. In 1937 one motor corporation alone built over twice that number. Free Cars A German firm has hit upon a happy idea for encouraging its employees. Every workman with over 10 years' service is to be presented with a Volkswagen free. Those with five years' service will be given half tho price of the car and those who have laboured threo years get a-quarter of the price. The Average Motorist The "average" American motorist is a man who earns between £5 and £6 a week. He pays just oyer £lO in taxes and drives nearly 10,000 miles per annum. Every year tho nuniber of car owners increases by nearly a million, yet only one car owner in three has ever had a new one. facts have been obtained from data collected in America recently.

Hire Cars Hire cars, which are at present uncontrolled as to fares and operatiory, are to be the subject of a special inquiry by the British Minister of Transport and the Home Secretary. A departmental committee has already been set up for the purpose. Opinion is that London will be dealt with first—due largely to pressure brought to bear by liondon taxi-men.

Hush-Hush Holland Noisy vehicles in Holland are stopped bv traffic police equipped with noise registering apparatus. The noisy vehicle is given the once-over, the recordings noted by the police and the driver warned that it must be put right. There is no summons for the first time; if, however, tho vehicle is found later still to be in an unimproved condition, a heavy fine usually results.

Traffic Census The greatest traffic census ever held in the British Empire was conducted in England last month. All told, 27,000 miles of class I. roads were under close observation bv 12,000 observers and checkers, witn a view to obtaining intimate data in respect to the growth of traffic, types and weights of vehicles used, etc. During the operations, extending over a week, one observer, on tho average, was stationed on every 4i miles of first-class roads in that country, to check traffic. Stainless Wheel Discs

Polished stainless steel •wheel discs which will retain their natural finish indefinitely are being introduced in England. There has been difficulty in producing discs from stainless steel owing to its becoming brittle under the spinning process, but after extensive experiment a suitable grade of material has been evolved. Between the stainless eteel discs and chromium-plated discs there is little difference in colour or appearance, but the use of stainless steel eliminates any possibility of flaking.