MOTORING NOTES

Taranaki Daily News, 20 April 1935, Page 4 (Supplement)

MOTORING NOTES

NEW SAFETY DRIVE INVESTIGATION OF ACCIDENTS. DETAILED “PROBE” IN ENGLAND.

(By

“Spotlight.”)

A most searching and comprehensive inquiry into the causes of fatal road accidents has been undertaken in Britain by. the Minister of Transport, Mr. L. Hore-Belisha, with the assistance of the chief officers of the police throughout the country. Every possible detail concerning the car, the driver and the victim involved in the accident is to be recorded for the infprmation of the Minister.

It is expected the inquiry will lead to information which will enable an intensified campaign to be directed towards the removal of the causes of accidents, and' will form the basis of further safety measures.,

Information is being sought on such questions as the conduct, condition, age and sex of drivers and cyclists at pedestrian crossings and elsewhere;. age, condition and horse-power of cars involved in. accidents; time, place and nature of accident; character, width and condition cf roads .where accidents occur. Where goods vehicles are involved in accidents particulars will be required as to whether they were fitted with guard rails or running boards, and, if not, whether the presence of guard rails would have mitigated the accidents.

As police reports come in they will be analysed and compared with the previous investigation in 1933. Victims will be classified, and in the case of pedestrians information will be obtained as to their movements preceding the accident, as, for example, crossing the street diagonally, emerging from behind or between stationary vehicles and stepping off the kerb with their backs to traffic.

Most important of all, the reports will indicate the causes to which accidents are attributed wholly or in part. Under this head will be shown the conduct of drivers, cyclists and pedestrians and other- factors. If an accident ■ occurs within 50 yards of an available crossing place, subway or refuge this will be stated.

Under the heading “direction or course of vehicle” information will be furnished on these and other points: Not slowing down at pedestrian crossing-place; emerging from minor road into major road; turning to right (or left); roads of equal importance; turning to right (or left). When a driver is reported to have been fatigued details of the hours of driving are required. The pedal cyclist will be reported upon for excessive speed in the circumstances, cutting-in and swerving and pulling out from behind another vehicle. WINTER TROUBLES PROTECTING the car. ADVICE TO THE AMATEUR. Winter with its cold and wet sets up rust and other troubles. To protect the car against them one might proceed as follows:— (1) Have the car carefully cleaned and polished. Rub off the rust spots with fine grade glass paper, and, after carefully wiping away the dirt, fill in the bare spots with enamel. Do not, if possible, increase the area of the affected part. For black parts, such as the mudguards, cycle enamel will suffice. Write to the car’s agent, who will give you his recommendations for the coloured body parts. The edges and undersides of the mudguards, and the rims of the wheels are the parts which ate most likely to require attention. (2) Have the chassis parts thoroughly oiled and greased, for an injection of lubricant forces out the dust accumulated during the summer, and makes an .effective seal against wet. Many service stations are equipped to spray oil, and, if asked to do so, they will agree to spray the road springs and the underside of the chassis with engine oil that has been discarded when the lubricant has been changed. In so doing they may cure a number of squeaks. An over-liberal application, however, means that much dirt will adhere. (3) Any body bolts, such as the large-headed ones used on the mudguards, that are loose cause the formation of rust. Make sure that all are tight. THE DOORS. (4) Oil,the door hinges and then put the merest smear of grease! on the striker plates of the door locks. If any places are discovered on the ddor framing where the movement of the door has worn the enamel off, smear a little grease on. the part to protect it from wet. (5) After polishing the bright parts rub them over with a clean rag which has had some light machine oil sprinkled on it. The unseen oily film is a great preventive of rust. (6) Drain the cooling system and flush it out. Fill to within one inch of the top of vent pipe. (7) After rubbing the radiator bright parts over with an oily rag fit a radiator muff if necessary. (8) Examine the tyres carefully for cuts and embedded stones. Pick out the stones and examine the nature of the cut that they have caused in the rubber. Any cut that penetrates the rubber and allows water to reach the casing should be stopped, as water rots the casing. Small cuts can be cleaned out with benzine or petrol, and then sealed against wet by squeezing rubber solution into them. The larger cuts must be filled with tyre stopping. As the methods of applying the stopping vary widely with the different makes,

read the instructions given on the package before use. BRAKE CABLES. . (9) All brake cables should be cleaned with petrol and coated with grease, especially where they enter conduits or run over pulleys. (10) If the battery is in a metal container lift it out, and after removing the rust with emery cloth give the container a coat of paint, as the acid fumes that arise from the battery are very corrosive. (11) It is not unlikely that during the year some of the wooden frame members in the body will have shrunk a little, leaving the bolts that hold the body to the chassis loose. Examine these and tighten them if necessary. (12) Should any nut that you wish to remove in making your adjustments have become so firmly rusted to its bolt that It cannot be moved, squirt penetrating oil on the exposed portion of the thread, and leave it overnight to soak in.” This’usually loosens the rust., (13) Storage in a cold and damp garage is more conducive to the formation of rust than anything else. Proper ventilation is, therefore, desirable, and a garage stbye is well worth its cost. (14) If the car is likely to be out of commission for more than a week at a time remember to inflate the tyres to their recommended pressure before leaving the car. See also , that no tyre is standing in an oil pool. If the cooling system has not anti-freezing mixture in it drain off the water. Once a week it is desirable to start the engine and let It turn over at a sufficiently brisk speed for the dynamo to be charging, for five or six minutes. This distributes the oil all over t’’ i mechanism and prevents the formation, of rust inside the engine.

THIRD PARTY INSURANCE ENGLISH COMPANY’S CASE. STRONG COMMENT MADE. Strong 'comment is made by the Economist on the experience of the Anglian Insurance Company in Great Britain and its connection with compulsory thirdparty insurance for' motorists. The Economist states that since 1930 it has been compulsory for- motorists in Great Britain to insure their third-party risks with a responsible insurance company, and the companies which were authorised to undertake such compulsory insurance are those which place a deposit of £15,000 with the Board of Trade. The Anglian Insurance Company fulfilled this condition, using 37J per cent, of its capital for the purpose. Then it circularised the counti-y, offering to insure on the payment of quarterly premiums and, collecting many premiums, incurred liabilities far exceeding their deposit with the Government. The company was hall-marked as an authorised insurer, and under this highsounding title accepted by the type of motorist to whom it made its appeal as sound in limb and wind, because the Government said, it was all right, the journal comments. It piled up liabilities beside which £15,000 was a fleabite, and! made it clear to anyone who-knew what was happening that it was. bound to crash and that when it crashed the deposit would be almost valueless. But the law of libel being what it is, those who knew dared not speak, and right up to the end the company has been able to take premiums from ill-informed members of tire public, because it was an “authorised” insurer and because the English law of libel makes criticism the only kind of criticism that in a case of . this kind is worth while—too dangerous td publish. Between the two of them, the Government, by its childish belief in deposits, and the courts,’by. their attitude to defendants in libel actions, hSve held open the garden gate while this and other insurance companies have led the public up the path. ; .