SLOW DRIVING MENAGE

NZ Truth, Issue 1103, 20 January 1927, Page 14

SLOW DRIVING MENAGE

A Danger To Other Motorists

So frequently have drivers who exceed the set speed limits been castigated and abused that one naturally turns to cogitate on the part the slow driver plays m our ever growing traffic problem. Cer- . tainly the fast and reckless driver is a menace, but as this type usually ends up m the ditch he is a sort of antidote to himself.

THE fast and careful driver is another class altogether. Motorists of this type know their' machines, their brakes are usually, m sound condition, and they are always ready for trouble, whether it is the man ahead doing 'the wrong thing or the sudden appearance round the corner of another vehicle. Furthermore, they almost invarably keep strictly to the rules of the road so. far as other drivers and particularly pedestrians are concerned. Their only sin is dt^iv- i ing a few miles above the allowable speed. / The writer has been out with many ; drivers of this type, and can say with sincerity that it is a pleasure to sit beside them. Their confidence m themselves and their machines engenders a feeling of security m those with them. At the other end of the scale is the slow driver, who, knowing little of the mechanism of his car except m rare cases, dawdles a^ong at less than the legal limit, and m consequence forces everyone going the same way to swing out to pass him. Furthermore, his slow pace enables him to turn with disconcerting and frequently disastrous quickness from a straight line, As a result he is even more ' a menace to traffic than the man who goes a little too fast. Everyone else is bound to deviate • from thaLhatural track to pass him, and on H^ narrow main roads now

being built he is a constant source of annoyance. ' 1 Anyone, who has driven a few times on such a. road will readily remember how at times half a. dozen of these slow-motion gentlemen have necessitatedrepeated deviations to the. far right-hand side, and will also be able to call to mirid what a world of difference it has made both to the safety and enjoyment of the ride when' the whole line of cars moves along at the correct pace. 7 '•'.."''•'. '''".' .-, On the new mam roads drivers should not be allowed to make/ themselves a nuisance and danger, to every other road- user either by reckless speeding or by driving . too slowly. This article is not by any. means intended i to be a defence of speeding, but it :is written with the idea of drawing attention to a phase of the traffic problem that will to many be quite new 1 , 'almost revolutionary,' i The same subject has, how.ever, been dealt with m other countries, and. will have to; be considered here if the traffic problem is sto ;be dealt withefficiently. : 7 '-: 7 '. '■■'.: ■'■'; A moment's . thought will convince ahyone-that a line of cars proceeding along a good but naryrow; road at an even speed of 30 yriilesvan hour/is much less .liable T ,to meet with trouble than a line of j cars proceeding at speeds varying 7 i between 25 and 12, miles, particu.-' larly where traffic is heavy, both ' '■•'•• ways. ■ ' ''. ■.''*■'.' -T: ; t . ■;'- ■■■ .-•*■ ;-■ ..;yy': t vy .'.•.■*■.