CYCLING & MOTOR

Otago Witness, Issue 3773, 6 July 1926, Page 70

CYCLING & MOTOR

NOTES

By

“DEMON."

The advice bo often given to lubricate the spring of a car is not good, for the reason that without a full vvad and shock absorbers lubricated sprig? cause very rough riding. While badly rusted springs should be avoided, over-lubrication will cause so much rebounds that more spring breakages occur from this cau.se than from any other. On perfect roatia not much rebound will occur, but on rough roads springs over-lubricated and with a light load are not to be desired. PROPER CARE OF BATTERIES. The things which car operators should M instructed to do to keep their batteries

in good condition are simple. The essentials are:— Fill with distilled water once a week in summer, every two weeks in winter, to a level slightly above the tops of the plates. Wipe the top clean and dry after each filling. If the terminals become corroded clean them and cover wijh a thin coat of vaseline. See that the battery is clamped down tight. Don’t drive with lights on to "save” battery. Overcharging is rare, and is not likely to cause any trouble. Check the specific gravity of the electrolyte in each cell once a month. If any read below 1.15 have the battery charged. Have the battery inspected at a battery service station twice a year. Don’t test (?) a battery bv short circuiting it and judging its condition by the spark produced. This test is both harmful and misleading. READY FOR EMERGENCY. The good driver will pull up swiftly, but he will ease his brake momentarily, just before the car comes to rest, thus avoiding reverse action, or he will see the bad road ahead and steady the car in time by braking with the throttle open and the drive connected. No one without imagination can drive fast with safety, for the hand or foot, or both, must be instantly responsive to the brain. The careless motorist does not sound' his-horn until a cart comes out of the side road, until the cyclist swerves just in front of the wing, or until he sees that the corner is blocked by passing traffic or by cattle. Again, he forgets to signal before he turns suddenly, or to sound his horn until he is on a cross road or a sharp turn. A good driver need not crawl along fearful of every possible danger. The more he uses his road sense the faster he can drive with a given degree of safety to himself, his passengers, and his fellow-travellers. When he is travelling at fair speed on a main road he does not say to himself, “ The road is mine; there is nothing in sight, and therefore I am perfectly safe.” He notices a turn ahead on his near side. Some distance before reaching it he sounds his horn, and “ feels” the steering gear so that the car edges away. Should any vehicle come suddenly out of the side road he has a certain amount of clearance, and since he had foreseen the danger he can decide instantly on the course to be taken—indeed, his hands and feet are at work before an indifferent driver would have made up his mind what to do. Observation will warn the driver in advance. He will watch the frewt wheels of approaching traffic. He will* with experience, anticipate what the. "other man” has in mind, and he will train himself to "see round a corner.”

Cultivate imagination and observation. Then, with a minimum of mechanical sense, there is no reason why a motorist should not be able to drive last and safely with comfort and with economy. THIRD PARTY RIBKB. POSITION IN VICTORIA. In advocating the enactment of a law to compel drivers of motor cars to insure against third-party risks, Deputy-Presi-dent Webb, in the Melbourne Arbitration Court on June 10, opened up a controversial subject. The judge said that no man should drive a cai unless he is in a position to have compensation effected for any injury he may be the cause of inflicting. The question has been widely discussed in England, and proposed legislation ‘is not being viewed favourably. Compulsory third-party insurance has much to recommend it, but its advantages are offset by a number of intricate factors. * In no way, it is maintained, is the plan contrary to the interests of motorists. For a small premium he would be protected against reckless road-users, whether pedestrians or other vehicle-drivers. Every prudent motorist, though, insures his car against damage, and third-party cover is one of the features of the policies. Inquiries, however, among Victorian traffic experts and studerts of road transport compulsory insurance show that the third-party risk is. regarded more as an accident maker than i safety measure. Those who have studied the matter from all angles declare that the legal mind frequently influences claims for compensation. An aphorisi quoted in support of this is that many people volveO in accidents do not realise how seriously they are injured until they have consulted their solicitors! It was pointed out in the court oy a traffic expert that if all people went about with the knowledge that they were insured against injury that may be inflicted by any lotor car on the road, the natural result would be a relaxation of caution bordering on carelessness. "Even now the instinct of self-preserva-tion is not prominently developed in many people,” he said, "and if responsibilities for possible accidents were taken off their shoulders the position would not be improved. If the subject of third-party insurance came up for serious consideration by authorities here, it would receive scant support.” SPEED RESTRICTIONS. In reply to the request of the recent conference of the North and South Island Motor Unions that the power of local bodies to impose speed restrictions be taken away, the Hon. R. F. Bollard, Minister of Internal Affairs, has written as follows to Mr P. R. Harman, secretary of the conference:—"l have to inform you that the Motor Regulation Act, now repealed, contained provision requiring a local authority when it made by-laws fixing speed limits to set up sign-posts denoting the limit of speed at which motors might be driven on any place to which the by-law referred, and provision on similar i; nes has been inserted in the draft regulations relative to motor traffic. I regret that I am unable to see my way to recommend Parliament to take away the oower cf local bodies to impose speed restrictions, ,*nd may be permitted to point out that a local authority may desire to control speed limits not only from the view of the safety of the public, but on account of road formation or questions of a similar nature, and seeing that they will l>e required T to put up notices denoting speed limits this would appear to cover the questions from the motorists’ point of view.” With regard to a further suggestion that Permission should be given in the case of charges for exceeding speed limits to allow evidence to be taken elsewhere than at the Court of hearing, the Minister replied that as this was a question for the consideration of the Minister of Justice, he had referred that aspect of the question to him. LEVEL CROSSINGS. Speaking of the elimination of level railway crossings at the Wellington Rotary Club luncheon, Mr A. Tyndall, chief engineer of the Main Highways Board, agreed that the question was one of some seriousness, but he was convinced it was not nearly so serious as most users of the roads would make out. "To do away with railway crossings is. not the job of the Railway Department,” lie said. “It is the duty of the Highways Board. The Railway Department has met us fairly in the matter of the elimination of about 12 of the most dangerous of the crossings. Motorists, however, have still got to use their heads and not butt into the trains.” Regarding the maintenance of the. roads, he said that there was an appalling amount of ignorance among those employed in the work. "We have to educate them to their jobs, and the Highways Board is trying to do it. I consider the maintenance of our roads is far more important than construction—thirty times more important. We must improve our maintenance. We can make a big difference by concentrating on this point. Most motorists would like to see us put concrete roads all over the country. It would cost about f 00,000.000 at least, which is £10,000,000 more than the railways have ever spent on construction.” The first thing the board had to do was not to build a few miles of boulevards near the cities, but to build up good service roads all through the country.” CANADIAN MOTOR PRODUCTION. Automobile factories in Canada in 1925 produced 124,458 passenger cars, 22,144 trucks, and 15,368 chassis—a total of 161,970 vehicles. This was an increase of over 22 per cent, over 1924 and of 10 per cent, over 1923, the best previous year. The total value of production, including parts for replacements, was U0335,380d01, as compared with 88,480,418d0l in 1924. Export shipments from Canada were the highest on record in 1925. The total value of vehicles and parts exported was 39,417,614d0l —an increase of 8,000,000d0l approximately over 1924 and of 2,000,000d0l over 1923. Passenger cars exported numbered 58,005, or about 35 per cent: of the total Cauadian product.

Trucks numbered 10,146. Tarts were valued at 6,372,728d01. Australia was the best market for both passenger cars and trucks. New Zealand ranked second, followed by British India, Dutch East Indies, Straits Settlements, British South Africa, United Kingdom, Argentine, Brazil, anil Uruguay. TOURIST TROPHY RACEB. Cable results to hand giving the winners of the classic International Tourist Trophy Motor Cycle races on the Isle of Man, are most interesting. The most important of the series of contests was the senior event in which there were 58 starters. The event was won in record time for the course by Stanlev Woods on a Norton, his time being 3hr 54min 39 4-ssec. His average speed was 67$ miles an hour for the 264 miles. W. Handley w'as second in 3hr 59sec on a Rex Acme, and F. Longman third on an A.J.S. in 4hr 3sec. The first six riders averaged GO miles an hour, J, Simpson,

riding an A.J.S., led in the first round, the leaders averaging 08 miles an hour. In the second lap, the same rider broke all previous records by doing the lap at an average speed of 70.42 miles an hour. His engine failed in the third lap. The junior event was won by A T ex Bennett riding a Velocette. He covered the distance of 264 miles in 3hr 57min. J. H. Simpson was second on an A.J.S. in 238 minutes, and W. Handley third on a Rex Acme, his time being 250 minutes. Bennett’s average speed was 00.8 miles an hour. These three riders are Englishmen, and have been prominent in motorcycle speed events for several years. F. Dixon, on a Douglaß, was fourth in 250 J minutes.

The lightweight event was won by 1 Johnson on a Cotton j his time was 4hr 23min lOsec, averaging more than 60 miles an hour. The contest was .splendidly organised, but the course was particularly tricky; the total distance being 264 miles. Ths senior event was marred by an extra*

ordinary series of accidents. Glierzi, the Italian rider, on a Guzzi machine, who was a hot favourite, dashed off amid tremendous cheering, but crashed in the third lap, injuring his arm, which caused him to retire. At Romsey, a dog wandered out on to the road and caused /a fatal accident. Harvey, one of the competitors, collided with the dog, and, falling heavily, was killed. In front of the grandstand a steward rescued a black Manx cat almost from the competitors’ front wheels. Hough, an A.J.S. rider, who was only 20 seconds behind Woods, 17 miles from the finish, crashed, injuring his face, arms, and legs. The winned Woods, who is 23 years of age, won the Junior T.T. race at the Isle of Man in 1923, and the Ulster Grand Prix in 1924. Despite the fafct that special fuels were prohibited this year, and that the race was lengthened by one lap, a matter of 37 miles, the average speed of the winners has been increased over four miles per hour. LAW OFFENCES. In Chicago, if you’re “pinched” now for any one of a hundred or two minor fractions of the ordinances relating to parking, speeding, lights, stopping, and so on, you can sign a jurj r waiver, plead guilty to the arresting policeman, and send the traffic court a cheque for the proper fine. The arrest slips are printed. On the back appear the standardised fine rates. On the front side the policeman checks the offence for which he has taken you in. If you refuse to sign the waiver he presents at the same time, he makes out and serves on the spot a summons to court. Certain offeuces require a court appenranee. They include such breaches of the law as driving while intoxicated, piloting a car that does not belong to you, operating a vehicle if you are a minor, and reckless driving. Other court appearances are mandatory for those who offend more than twice. 'The first time is productive of fines ranging from 4s to £l, and the second of fines from 13s to £2.