MOTORING NOTES

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20342, 27 June 1934, Page 11

MOTORING NOTES

BY

MAGNETO.

MOTORING TOPICS.

Children on the City Streets. Correspondents at various times have referred to the apparent carelessness of children when playing on the city streets. Despite the great work which has been done by the Automobile Association and the South and North Island Motor Unions, in an endeavour to teach children the danger of not observing ordinary carefulness on the road, there has not been a great deal of change. A more intensive campaign will have to be taken up for, with the great increase in motor traffic which is sure to come with a return to prosperity, the danger will become very real. New Road Signs. Progress is being made with the erection of the new r road signs constructed according to the Main Highways Board's regulations for the purpose of indicating corners, bends and crossroads, etc. The Canterbury Automobile Association’s patrol man has received some of these signs, which have been manufactured locally and which are of metal and coloured yellow and black with an emblem indicating the type of turn. The signs are not erected far off the ground, approximately four feet, which will bring them well within the beam of a headlight while travelling at night. This policy of erecting signs lower could well be followed with ordinary direction boards. It woud make them a good deal easier to read, particularly at night. South Island Motor Union.

The quarterly meeting of delegates to the South Island Motor Union is to be held at Timaru on Friday next. Among the topics for discussion will be the suitability of the Admiralty rule of apportioning payment for damage as the result of an accident as applied to motoring claims. Briefly, the principle of the Admiralty rule is that the persons concerned in an accident shall pay for the damage according to the degree of negligence in each case. Legal opinion on the question is divided, and as the delegates to the South Island Motor Union include many of the legal fraternity, an interesting discussion is expected. Another topic will be the road service scheme inaugurated by the C.A.A. The question of electing associate members will be another point which will interest motorists. The purpose of this is to provide that the son. daughter or wife of a full member can become an associate member of an affiliated association at a greatly reduced fee, providing that he or she is not a 'registered owner of a motor-car. This will mean that, should either of the family be driving the car without the presence of the full member then the car would be entitled to the free road service and other facilities connected with the South Island Motor Union. Doctors’ Fees. | According to a provision of the new | road traffic regulations in England, it | will become the duty of every motorist i concerned in an accident to pay the ! sum of 12s 6d per person which may I be injured as the result of the accident, ( irrespective, apparently, whether the I motorist is to blame ar not. Before the ! inauguration of the third-party insurj ance here the same complaint was | being made that motorists were causing ! accidents and medical men were not ! being paid for their attention to in- ! jured persons. The Insurance Act has I obviated that to a great extent. It ; appears that the regulation is aimed at ! ensuring payment for attention in minor accidents from which no claim North Read Construction. J Good progress is being made with she | reconstruction of the Main North High- | way between Leithfield and Amberlev | preparatory to the tar-sealing. A great j deal of the road has been scarified, and i two sections present difficulty for ! motorists to negotiate. The first of 1 these is near Amberlev House Girls | College. The stretch is very heavy and has to be negotiated in second gear. The second is as bad. The contractor states that the recent weather has been responsible for this condition, but the surface is being graded every night and will improve rapidlv from now on. Obituary. Two men. well known in the motor- : ing trade, the late Messrs Geoff Mav- | bury and Jack Suckling, have died ; during the past week. Mr Maybury, i who at the time of his death was re- ! presenting the Riley car agency, was very well known in local motoring I circles and had been connected with the trade for a number of years. H e was especially known as one of the finest salesmen the trade has produced The late Mr Suckling, while not so well known in the motor-car business, was the maker of one of the city’s most popular bicycles. At one time he va? selling motor-cycles. Motorists will deeply regret their passing. FAULTY LIGHTING. If the lights are dull the most probable cause is an exhausted battery. To make a quick test try the horn and starter. Should the former be feeble and the latter fail to turn the engine over briskly, the battery is certainly run down. Make sure that the charging switch is on - full ” or ” winter ” charge start the engine by hand ana swiicn off all the lights. Gradually -speed ui the engine and observe the ammeter. If it swing over to the normal charging position for the speed of the engine, then the cause of the trouble is tnai the battery is “ down.” In an old cai minor leakages in the cables may cause loss of current -if the car has beer standing for a few days. If the wires are found to be perished or worn thej should be renewed. Should the ammeter fail to respond tc the variations in the engine's speed or there be wild oscillations of the needle these are evidence of belt slip Tighten the belt, but if it is worn and “bottoms” on the pulleys, fit a new ' one. Examine the dynamo commutator j and, if it be dirty, clean it by rotating ' the dynamo through the starting handle I with a piece of silk, damped in petrol, j held against the commutator.

DRIVING IN FOG. Value of Red Lamp Covers. There is no doubt that the fogs during the week have had motorists in difficulties. We in Christchurch have these fogs every year, and yet we take no special precautions to make driving easier. It is hopeless to switch on the full headlights. The only effect this will have will be to reflect the light back in the eyes. Motorists who have experienced the fogs in England were surprised to find that the conditions last Friday and Sat- i urday were sufficient to cause any concern to other road-users; hut, nevertheless, many local drivers were unable to ; proceed with any degree of certainty. Although the fog was particularly dense j in places, however, the general inconvenience to traffic resulted rather from ignorance on the part of drivers than from the actual severity of the conditions. Powerful lamps blazing through the fog served only to disturb all traffic that encountered them, without assisting the drivers of the cars in ques*'aJthough at first sight it might appear that headlamps would assist a motorist in a fog, in actual practice th« powerful beams are merely reflected back in the driver's eyes, and do not penetrate the mist to any great evteni. It is wise to turn off the headlamps, using only the dim light, when fog is encountered, and a spot-light, set so as to cast a beam on the left-hand kerb a little distance ahead of the car, is the only powerful illumination required. Sometimes, when there is little traffic, it is possible to follow the near-side tramline. A few motorists have equipped thencars with, special fog-lamps, although the majority are of the opinion that the expense is unwarranted in view of the comparative rarity of heavy fog. These special lamps have ambercoloured lenses, and give a light that penetrates fog in a remarkable manner. Satisfactory results can also be obtained by fixing red cloth or paper over the head-lamps, and then using the powerful beam. It will be found that if the lights are properly adjusted the road is illuminated for a considerable distance ahead, and the peculiar reflecting action of the mist is quite overcome. In districts where fosr is prevalent manv motor-owners have special covers with red.lenses made to fit their headlamps and invariably carry them in the car. so that th*»v can be slipped on at a moment’s notice. INTERNATIONAL TROPHY. American Driver Wins Narrowly. A margin of only 4see separated the first two cars at the conclusion of the Junior Car Club's International Trophy race over 250 miles at Brooklands, England, last month. The winner was Whitney Straight, a young American driver, who handled his new Maseratt, a phenomenally fast single-seater, in good style, while the Hon Brian Lewis, driving an older car of the same make, was only 4see behind him. The winner averaged 59.62 miles an hour. The International Trophy race has a ; unique system of handicapping, which, in theory at least, results in all cars, irrespective of size. lapping at about the same speed. This is achieved by sending the fastest cars round an acute artificial corner, the next group round a lesser bend, and the smallest, machines round a still more gentle curve. This also calls for the exercise of considerable driving skill, by means of which a driver of a comparatively slow car can often find himself well 1 *One of the outstanding features of the race was the excellent performance of F. W. Dixon, a well-known Riley driver, at the wheel of a new 11-litre model. Although his car was unsupercharged. and less than half a size of the Ma sera ti s placed first and second, he equalled the lap speed of 95.1.1 miles an hour set by the two Italian cars. and was leading for some time. Misfiring finallv caused his retirement, although his team-mate. C. Paul, was fourth, beh'nd T. E. Rose-Ri chard s’ Bugatti. With onlv in laps to eo, it was obvious that Straight would win unless anything unforeseen happened, but spectators noticed that the tread of the right front tyre was 'aft disappearing. It was obvious that Straight could not stop to change the tyre without losing his lead, and at=o the race, and it was with mixed feelinsrs that the crowd watched tlm American continue in suite of the possibility of a burst. Lewis, given a sudden hope o' winning, increased his speed, and gained lap hv lap on Straight, who was watching the ever-growing white streak on his front tvrr. Although t'-re was in tatters however, it held, and the American won by a margin of four seconds.