OTAGO MOTOR CLUB.

Otago Witness, Issue 3870, 15 May 1928, Page 71

OTAGO MOTOR CLUB.

At the monthly meeting of the Otago Motor Club, held on Tuesday evening, the president, Air A. E. Ansell, presided over a good attendance of members. the Clerk of the Waihemo Couhty I Council wrote advising that Miller’s road and about one mile of Goodwood road had been recommended to die Highways Board as secondary roads. The DunbaekMiddlema.reh road had been recommended as a main highway. The writer also applied for a school sign on the main highway at the Inch Valley.—Th c request was granted. In reporting on his recent conference with the Green Island Borough Council. the Chairman said he understood that suitable arrangements had been made for parking at the sale yards. He had discussed the proposed deviation at Lookout Point, and it had been shown that the scheme was much more ambitious than had appeared at first. The council had ■ asked for the assistance of the club in purchasing a necessary acre of land' through which the new portion of the road would pass, and he had promised that the club would contribute £lOO towards the cost. Air Ansell referred also to the motor regulations which will come into force on June 1. Motor cyclists, he said, would be required to have a proper rear light attached, and when equipped with sidecars, cycles would be compelled to have two independent brakes. Motor cars would be required to have their tail lights | on or near the right side of the car, and spot lights were to be fixed so that they could not he raised high enough for the beam of light to show above a height of 3ft 6in, at a distance of 75yds from the lamp. In older to assist members in having their headlights adjusted to conform with the new regulations, the club was arranging for premises and workmen, the work would oe carried out free or charge to members. The possession of a cut-out on a car or cycle was to become illegal, and motorists were to be compelled to make direction signals 30ft before they camo to a corner or began to slow down. Furthermore, their hands were to remain out until they be-ran to inako the turn. All cars would have to j be fitted with mirrors on the outside, and I reflectors were necessary at the rear of every car. The question of the reflectors, was. he thought, one of the unreasonable features of the regulations. The average tail-light filled the bill very well. * Mr H. Halliday said that, in his opinion, some of the regulations Were unreasonable. if not absurd. One of the unreasonable clauses was that wlrch dealt with reflectors, and another was that which necessitated having a mirror on Ihe right side. He did not wish t.o disfigure bis car bv having such a mirror attached and felt satisfied that the mirror inside the car was quite efficient. A member stated that thc inside mirrors were ant to be made useless if nassengers in the-back seat of a car blocked the view through the rear window, or if there was dust on the roads. The Chairman said that the Minister had promised to review the regulations and would be unite willing to take note’ of objections. The regulations were being tried out, and he was sure that the Gow eminent would be reasonable.' H" no-reed with" the opinions expressed by Mr Halliday.

Air Halliday added that he obiected to the speed of motorists on country roads being limited to 35 miles ner hour. Not one man in a hundred kept to that sneed when on an open road, and in his opinion the limit should have been fixed at 45 miles per hour. Th Chairman, explained that the intention of the Act was simply to place the responsibility on the driver of a car if he decided to travel more than 35 miles per hour. In the event of a prosecution

he would be required to prove that he was not driving to the danger of the public. in continuing' his review of the club’s affairs the Chairman said that members would be pleased to learn that, as a result of the recent protest made by the club, the work of demolishing the Waipahi bridge would be postponed until the summer. had been stated by the Ota'rn Daily Times that it was illegal to pass a tramcar on the offside, but this was incorrect, and the chief traffic inspector had denied that authority was given for the issuing of the statement. Mr Halliday referred to the state of the road from Port Chalmers past the beott Monument, and up to Mount CarF 1 i The Waikouaiti County Council had been “improving” it by cleaninn’ out the gutters and putting the debris on the road. The result was that it was in a dangerous condition. Air C. Alackay said Dunedin cyclists were adopting the' dangerous practice of carrying passengers on the bars of their machines. The Chairman agreed that the complaint regarding people riding on the bars of bicycles was a reasonable one. After the business of the meeting had been concluded, an address on the care of motor cars was given by Mr J. L. Passmore.