MOTORISTS!

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 9, Issue 63, 15 April 1946, Page 6

MOTORISTS!

“NEVER TAKE A RISK”

DRIVERS’ TEN COMMANDMENTS

With the recent increase in petrol allowance, and consequently the additional number of cars on the road, motor vehicles are once again entering their former category as Public Enemy No. 1 (and we mean just that). Recent statistics have shown that already the accident toll has increased in far greater proportion than the number of cars on the road. It therefore behoves motorists to firstly make sure that they have more than just a mere acquaintance with the rules of the road (particularly the new righthand rule) and secondly to exercise MORE CAUTION.

By way of some small assistance we reprint the following laconic comments under the heading of: The Motorists Ten Commandments. 1. The Other Fellow is always a darn fool—if he isn’t, he probably thinks you are, anyhow, so neither should be offended. 2. Keep,to your correct side of the road. There may be a funeral around the corner —yours. 3. Reduce speed at intersections. Some other driver may consider the time opportune to commit suicide,

too. 4. Never drive at such a speed you cannot stop in half the distance of your clear vision ahead. The Other Fellow is entitled to the other half to do likewise. ' 5. Never swing out wide when entering another road. You may be entitled to enter the stream of traffic, but if the next car is too close, has defective brakes, or a dozen other things—your luck’s out. 6. Never drive so close to a preceding vehicle you cannot stop in the event of an emergency. A novelty form of a rear -plate we noticed

read “If you must bump something, please use your head,” and another one: “If you can read this, you’re too darn close.”

7. Never stop without giving proper signals. A pat on the back is usually acceptable to most of us, but a bump in the rear—well, work it out yourself: yours a new car, his a pre-war model, with no insurance, and the owner financially embarrassed.

8. Never attempt to cross the tide of traffic unless positive you can do so in safety, both to yourself and the Other Fellow. Confidentially, the Judge is very unsympathetic to the plea: I didn’t think. 9. Never try to cut out and in again in fast-moving, two-way traffic. The reward for a slight error of judgmeht might either be a back seat on a golden chariot or an ash cart. You’re in a better position than I to judge. 10. Try to be courteous and considerate to all traffic on the road. If the Other Fellow fails to reciprocate, it’s only a question of time before he pays the price. Finally, these whole ten commandments can be summed up in four simple words—“NEVER TAKE A RISK.” In addition, we might mention the following:— The motorist who says: “My brakes are 0.K., I- hope,” and he who relies upon the horn and Providence are both gambling on luck —Bad Luck.

So is he who only thinks he knows the Law—the Rules—his own control and the control of motor vehicles.

A person failing in courtesy, or consideration for the safety of welfare of others, is neither a lady nor a gentleman. As a Motorist, he is known as a Road Hog. It’s unfair—to a decent hog. The whole point is, that a road hog is never in his own eyes. Are YOU one in the other fellow’s?