MOTOR NOTES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 29, 28 June 1939, Page 7

MOTOR NOTES

OTHER LANDS

RESTRICTIONS ON MOTORISTS

.SOME CURRENT RULES

New Zealand motorists may imagine that they have quite a lot of irksome restrictions, but compared with "V* some other countries the Dominion is a car drivers' paradise. ,For instance, in Panama it is quite •common for a business man to go -along to the police station and say ■this sort of thing: '«I have an important business engagement to_morrow night which will mean driving home after midnight. Would you be kind enough, officer, to let me have a permit?" - For in this tiny Central American republic motorists are forbidden to he out in the streets after 12 otlock at night. This is not in the interests of public health or morality, but because—the streets are cleaned at As Panama likes to see spotstreets in the the auth. •orities prevent ugly tyre marks from •spoiling the surface by the pimple < process of forbidding all traffic unless special permission is obtained from the Chief of Police. Italy has plenty of restrictions on motorists. No person who has ever been in prison is allowed to drive. At level-crossings the driver must get out of his car, walk to the railway nine, look both ways carefully, and only proceed after making sure that no train is in sight. Not that thev always do. WALKING PACE SPEED LIMIT. In the Vatican City it is forbidden to drive at more than a walking pace This, however, is easier to conforiv with than the rule existing in Beirn ? Portuguese, East Africa, which states that no car may exceed the speed of ■ji\ cantering horse. Horns are the subject of many regulations all over the world. Since Finland first adopted silent driving many other countries have followed their example. Others will allow only -tleep-toned horns. In Italy pedestrians may be warned "either by the horn or -- the voice." I suppose you may tap on the windscreen as well. In Yugoslavia it is necesasry to ?n----<licate everjr change of direction with ■the horn. One long toot means -"s'traight ahead," two blasts mean a right turn and three a left turn. There is no mention of any signal for reverse. Two horns, one electric and ond -bulb, are obligatory in Venezuela. In Norway ? drivers are not allowed *to smoke when motoring through ' jtowns. Denmark demands a certificate of sobriety, signed by two trustworthy .citizens, before they trust anybody with a car. Swedish officials want the two citizens to state in. addition that their friend is well behaved and .careful. In Venezuela the prospective mot- ■-* ' -orist must' produce a certificate cf vaccination, among other documents. Many of the regulations existing in foreign countries are for the motoiist's own benefit. For instance, ignition keys must not.be left in the •switch in Denmark. Every Swedish car must have a plate bearing the name and address of the owner. CURIOUS NIGERIAN RULE. Low-hanging branches are the reason for a curious rule ill Nigeria. It states that no packages of any description may be carried on the hood. Owing to the nar'row roads, no vehicle may be taken to Iceland if it is wider than oft Oin. Portugal and Salvador have adapt--ed the marine rules of port and starboard lights to the road. In the former country the right Mead lamp must have a green disc over it, while .the left traffic indicator must be red, and green on the right. The Burmese evidently do not cave j for bright lights, for hvul lamps must have their reflectors shaded with red paper. In Estonia, on the •other hand, no lamps at all are necessary during the summer owing to the light nights. j In Norway and Latvia the tail l«m'p is the subject of a rule. U must be operate*?! by a switch at t!u rear of the car, and not on the dash, board. Spotlights are banned in SwR ztrland. Palestine and the Cold Coast make it compulsory to carry a jack. / Colour is important in Egypt. No bright red car is allowed into country, for red is reserved for King Farouk's cars.

ROADS NOT RAILWAYS

EUROPEAN PRACTICE

GERMAN EXPERIENCE

One of the lessons emerging from recent political events is the vital part taken by express motor highways in tile political and economic life of modern Europe. The day is over when the Autobahnen (express motor roads) existed only as speedways for owners of fast cars and as a tourist attraction. They are now superseding railways and fulfilling a vital function in international affairs. Not only do they permit the rapid troop movements indispensable to a system of power politics; they form an essential preliminary where new territory has to be exploited. The rapid manner in which a mechanised striking force of thousands of troops can be moved almong an Autobahnen has revolutionised ideas on the speed of military convoys, just as the speed •with which the roads are built has revolutionised ideas upon road construction. iPOR SMALL CARS TOO. Hitler!",? speech at the opening of the Berlin motor show marked the end of the Autobahn as a speedway i for tourists. He said that the road system has been built not much in order that the big car could average 80 miles an hour as in order that the small car could average 50 miles an hour. In future, the vast output of cheap family cars from the Government factory and the extension of road-borne goods traffic freed from unnecessary restrictions will make it almost impossible for the big cars to cruise at .90 to 100 miles an hour in the way which has bccome familiar on the; Autobahnen. But 60 miles an, hour cruising will mean a 60 miles an hour average. In any case a decree was subsequently issued restricting the maximum speed on autobahnen, to 100 kilometres an hour, which is approxi6'i 1 miles an hour. The object of the new law was believed to be to conserve Germany's available motor transport for as long a period as possible in case of emergency. ENGLISH REPORT. After a recent run on the CologneHanover Autobahn, which passes through a dense industrial avea past the coal mines and heavy industries of Dusseldorf, Essen and an English motoring writer said that it provided a striking example of the way in which the express road is taking its part in the economic life of the nation. On a last car it is still possible to cruise through this busy industrial centre a,t 80 or 90 miles a<n hour, but commercial vehie.. les outnumber private cars. There is a constant stream of great Dieselengined lorries, far bigger than those we know in New Zealand, drawing one and often two four-wheeled trailers on giant pneumatic tyres at 40 to 50 miles ail hour. Besides the provision of cheap cars capable of relatively high cruising speeds with economy and reliability, personal transport is catered for by immense high speed motor coacbes capable of speeds up to 70 miles an hour. It is not uncommon to see one of these coaches hauling a four-wheel, ed trailer as big as itself with a corridor connection between the two vehicles. DRASTIC CHANGES. Obviously < the construction of an ideal road system, particularly through an area already heavily popu lated, has called for drastic measures:. People who were once neighbours lind themselves separated by a broad expanse of concrete, which they can only cross by making a detour to the nearest bridge, and high embankments take the road past the secondfloor Avindows of existing buildings. One becomes almost bored at a succession of line engineering feats like the twin-track bridge over the Elbe. fiso metres which was completed in a period of only 14 months.