MOTOR NOTES

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17233, 12 April 1930, Page 13

MOTOR NOTES

BRITAIN’S AUTOMOBILE ASSN. 420,000 MEjHBEJIkS; 40,000 WOMEN. LONDON, Jan. 25. In Groat Britain motorists find that many worries and handicaps, whether their vehicles are used for business or pleasure, disappear with the attachment of the Automobile Association's badge. With a' membership of 420,000 the association is numerically the largest motoring organisation in the world, it's Watchword Is service; its object “to ‘make motoring pleasant and motorists' popular. ’ ’ It Ctuiie into existence in 1005, when some 200 'motorists placed a few cyclist patrols on Brighton road to warn tjnVers when police were on the aitif to trap those exceeding the regulation speed laid down, namely, 2b 'miles ah holif.' To-day every main road in ttie country has its quota of patrols ( ghiii'g practical service to members and' the l scope of A.A. activities eni-1 jiFa’ces every imaginable matter upper* ' (ai'iiing' to motor vehicle ownership. I 'Bead uuaftdr.s are at Eainuii House, | Ne\V ‘Coventry street, near Pictifulilly Circus. The atmosphere' of Hie place is' strictly business! social life is not catered' for. There arc no lounges nor' reading rooms'; but the main entrance hall is furnished with several writing‘tables. Departmental activities may be subdivided into four sec-1 Cons—touring, engineering, legal and . political; although the organisationoperates as an entity ami not in any ! separate capacities. ! ‘ The part'tliaf affects the majority of members though, is the touring section. Lt is a remarkable example of systematised effort. If a member intimate tlial he desires to motor to Constantinople or Shanghai, lie is given route maps and detailed infernation just, as readily as if he re-i cjtiostft to : be routed from London to a remote village in Scotland. What is more, the process of getting the information together from a well- j or tic-fed' morass' of' detail is only a matter of a few minutes. I Main roads in all countries are chatted, indexed and known. The system; qhite naturally, reaches its maximum l efficiency in connection with touring in Britain, the A.A. keeping itself in touch with road conditions and reconstructions that necessitate. detWrs.’ ‘ ' ' ‘’ 1 | ’ In'addition to the London headquarters, there are 22 branches dis- j tribb'ted throughout the country, and at*'those ftieaTotHccA the same services are available. Last yiear'thc associa-

tion supplied 590,000 touring itineraries, accounting ’ for 234,000,000 miles of travel. The road patrols, which are paid, equipped and controlled by the A.A., covered 25;980,6T5 inilcs. Nine thousand road signs were erected, bringing the association's total to 13,000. 'Tl icro are now ncar ty 500 A.A. telephones on the main roads of Great Britain at points distant from regular telephone services. Every member halt a key to the phone boxes, and a noteworthy point is that the pay box is not a part of the telephone. And so the chance lack of two pennies never stands between a member and fhe other'end of the wire. The cost of the road patrol functions runs info approximately £592,500 a yean ” 1 ' FREE LEGAL DEFENCE. A large number of, members avail themselves of the association's legal defence system. This provides. for persons summoned for motoring offences being legally represented in any part of the country free of charge.' Even if the member is admittedly in the wrong the service is available to Inin'in a “plead guilty” action. If two members arc involved in a'mishap’a satisfactory settlement is often made without the ease going to th'd'politic The work of the legal department recently was extended to the giving of advice on a diversified ratrgo of matfehs’ assbMafed with" iffotor' ownership. bi'sngreCments with ! insurance companies, disputes over the buying and selling Of cats, arguments with local it'ufhwities and troubles with garage proprietors diid hotelkeepers—all engage the attention of the permanent, legal staff. In the words of Mr. W. List! d!f headquarters:—“When we take a Subscription 1 from a motorist w'c'buy all the trouble that his vehicle Ifv lik'ffiy* to 1 get him! into, but lie is alldtfed to pay his own fines. ’ ’ ' Last'year the legal facilities afforded to members cost the A.A. £39,450. Membership includes other advantages, aucli as provision of special insurance facilities, expert advice on the purchase and repair of vehicles, car shipment assistance, arbitration following disputes knd a'scorh Of minor services that 'are of instant value to the individual concerned. •Ho Wire some instances of A.A. service that exemplify its diversity. A member, dissatisfied with repair shop (itiargeS fOr \Vork clone on his car, appealed to the technical department, with the result that a bill for £44 was reduced to t£22. An A.A. telephone on Dartmoor cost £2OO to instal because 6f its isolated location. At night, a woman member, arriving at the outskirts of London from a northern town, phoned headquarters seeking’ advice. Bhe explained she was bewildered witli the labyrinth of streets and the density of traffic, and if' she was not lost already she soon would be. A ' patrol was promptly sent along to drive the car to the desired destination. Incidentally the association mimjiers among its members ')l),Opt) women. A motorist who. was Idivlng a garage built at his home got intb ‘aii argument with the buildjug contract or on the question of roofing material to be used, and referred the cireimlsta'ifees to the association. There followed a gentle rebuke to the ddiltractfir ,am| the work proceeded according to original plan. Then 1 lire"’A'.’A'. officials at all important European ports To facilitate the loading and unloading of members' ears, a'ftd easy fitlanelfi) arrangements may be made regaVdihg customs'duties. The assneiatidti' lists members at the rale of £2 2s for full-sized cars and eoinim v rcin] vehicles, and £1 Is ;i Vetfr for’ ihofoi' cycles and cars the engines of which do not exceed a piston diSplnl’oment of 1000 cubic centimetres. Drivers of commercial vehicles' feeeii’o' free legal defence privileges for 5s a year, ft • PE VICE FOR INTERNAL COM- ' BIJSTION ENGINES. I i m e. pERTH, March 19. Air. .T. A. f,. Riiwoldl, of Morton, Victoria, the itivWifor of an improved air cleiireV arid ebheentrator for use in iliferilal ehmbuAtioh engines, is aboard R.M.S. Oroute's, which arrived rif. Fremantle to-day from London. describing his invention, which has behii taken up by fi leading firm of CoWrnercial engineers in England, Mr Rutvoldt’Saicj its purpose was to clean