MOTORING

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20097, 28 November 1930, Page 4

MOTORING

"Roadster" Invites articles and paragraphs of Interest to motorists for this page.

AT7TOMATIC SIGNALLING SYSTEM. The new automatic electrical signalling system at the corner of Colombo and Cashel streets, which was turned on by the chairman of the By-laws Committee of tho City Council (Councillor E. H. Andrews) on Monday last, is beginning to be appreciated by motorists, who, of course, constitute the bulk of the four-wheel traffic. Tho lights are so powerful that at night time they may bo seen for a considerable distance, as far away as Brougham street, Sydenhanj, in the south, for instance, and from Stnnmore road, in the east. A local motorist told "Roadster" yesterday that a few nights ago ho saw the signals from Stanmoro road and endeavoured to sot the speed of his car so as to arrive at the intersection when the green light was showing. Tho light was displayed five times before he reached Colombo street and ho had to wait three seconds to get the signal to proceed. The lights may not be seen from very far away so far as the north is concerned, however, for the reason that the Cathedral abuts into the roadway and obscures the view of tho loft side of Colombo street whore it Joins Cashel street. ANGLE Or LIGHTS. While the system is generally giving satisfaction, there have beon complaints made concerning the height at which the lights are displayed. It is contended by many people, pedestrians as well as motorists, that the lights are too high abovo the road level (11 feet). It should be explained that tho signals are only being given a trial at present and that if it is decided to keep them in operation the difficulty mentioned will probably be obviated by remoying them to other portions of Colombo and Cashel j streets. The lights were placed where they now do duty simply because it was convenient to use the telephone poles standing at the four corners of the crossing. The proposal is to reduce the angle at which tho lights are now placed by erecting them some distance away from tho corner. For instance for the convenience of traffic approaching the intersection from Colombo street north the lights will be situated perhaps about 15 feet beyond the crossing on the south side of Colombo street, while for traffic proceeding in the opposite direction the lights will be placod a similar distance from the corner on tho north side of the street. OBEYING THE SIGNALS. Motorists appear to be learning the operation of the system more rapidly than other classes of traffic. This is no doubt due to the fact that if they make a mistake at the intersection they are more conspicuous than cyclists or pedestrians and consequently come under the notice of the traffic inspectors, who are not slow in telling them just where fchey have erred. Cyclists, who have up to the present been a law unto themselves, are at last beginning to show signs of discipline. There remain the pedestrians to be considered. Unfortunately, there are some people who because they are on foot believe that they should be exempted from obeying traffic signals. A few days ago two elderly ladies wero spoken to by a traffic inspector for having ignored the red light, which means "Stop." They told him that he had no right to prevent them from crossing the intersection if they desired to do so and then to show their independence turned and retraced their- steps. Buch people make conditions hard not only for vehicular traffic but also for themselves, They run the risk of being knocked down by a motor-car. in which case they would have no redress provided the driver concerned was not exceeding tho speed limit, which at all intersections within the City is fifteen miles per hour. Generally speaking, however, good progress has been made in educating pedestrians to obey tho signals during the four days in which they have been in use and it is considered that the system has come to stay. At least it is hoped so. NEW MOTOB OAMP. So popular is motor camping becoming that new camps are being established all over the 'Dominion. The secretary of the Canterbury Automobile Association (Mr J. S. Hawkes) paid a visit during last week-end to Port Robinson, to inspect a site for a camp, and he informs "Roadster" that he is prepared to recommend its approval by the Association. Port Robinson was once quite a busy centre and quantities of wool were shipped from it, being taken out to the vessels lying out in the roadstead by surf boats. Tho advent of the railway, however, robbed it of its importance, and it is now seldom heard of. The only buildings there today are a dwelling-house and an old schoolhouse, although there is a town site laid out in streets. The proposed camping ground is on the old school property, and there is water and firewood available. There is a beach at Port Robinson, where bathing may be indulged in, another attraction of the district being fishing. In case of unfavourable weather campers will be allowed to use tho schoolhouse, and there is also a telephone available. Port Robinson lies a little over six miles from the Main North road, and is reached by a side road leading to tho right from Domett. About a mile or so past Port Robinson is Gore Bay, from which watering place a run of about six miles takes one to Cheviot. MOTORISTS' COMMUNITY HALL. While on the subject of camping sites it is interesting to loam that the proposed community hall for motorists on the Canterbury Automobile Association's grounds at Hanmer will shortly be an accomplished fact, the erection of the building having been commenced this week. Tho dimensions of the hall will be 30ft by 20ft and on the north and west sides of the building there will be a verandah ten feet wide. There will bo ample room for dancing and other social amenities, and it will be the duty of a caretaker, who lives close by, to ■see that no one but members of automobile Associations, or Bimilar organisations, are allowed to use the place. Mr H. R. Hamilton has designed the building and drawn tho plans without charge, and the logs for the hall are being supplied free of charge from the State Forest, Hanmer. THIRD PARTY INSURANCE. Motorists have reason to feel satisfied with the manner in which the issue of third party insurance risks is carried out in the Dominion, and there is no doubt that if they had to submit to the British system they would feel that they had a grievance. A cable this week stated that the certificates to be issued are parchment-like documents 8$ inches by 4j. inches, on which are denned the limitations imposed on all motorists, the name of.the holder and the number of the car. One certificate

BY "ROADSTER."

is issued in respect of the car, a duplicate being held by the driver. The amount of clerical works such a process involves will be realised when it is stated that no fewer than 2,000,000 certificates will be issued before the end of the year. New Zealand motorists are spared the inconvenience of having to take care of such certificates, for the very good reason that none is issued. An applicant for a third party cover here is given his receipt when he pays over to the Postal authorities the sum of 20s at the same time as ho pays for the license to use his vehicle, no one being able to get the new year's num-ber-plates until he has paid the premium for the cover. The fact that a car carries the current year's plates, the colour scheme of which is changed yearly, shows the authorities at a glance that the driver is insured, thus obviating the need for a periodical holdup in order to ensure that the law is being observed. In England the issue of certificates has evidently been found necessary, becauso number-plates are not issued annually. THE NEW "STOP" SIGNS.

The new "Stop" signs adopted by the Railway Department for use at level ciossings will be brought into operation as from Monday next. Twenty of the signs have been issued to crossing-keep-er s around the City, and instructions given the men as to their use. With the introduction of the signs there will be another new departure. This will be the abolition of green flags, the use of which as an indication of danger has given rise to so much criticism. WIDER ROADS. Owing to the increasing amount of traffic on highways to-day the need for greater widths is being stressed by engineers. Recently the Wellington City and Suburban Highways Board decided to accept the recommendation of the City Engineer (Mr G. A. Hart) that the Hutt road be widoned to 40ft from Thorndon to Ngahauranga, at an estimated cost of £10,850. The genoral width of paved highways in the Dominion is 18ft, nino feet each way, but it has been found in Canterbury, as elsewhere, that it would be safer if the double width were extended by another two feet, making it twenty feet. For this reason it has boen decided to make the new stretch of paving on the Main North road, between the City Boundary and Nortlicote road, twenty feet wide. A similar policy is being adopted in respect of bridges. When the Selwyn bridge was erected a few years ago the width provided for was eighteen feet, but when the Waimakariri bridge was constructed more recently the carriageway was made twenty feet in width. To add another two feet to the width of a road means increasing the cost by about ten per cent. SALON d'AUTOMOBILE. Some interesting features were presented at the 24th Salon do I'Automobile, the Paris Motor Show, last month in the Grand Palais. One twelve cylinder car attracted great attention bccauso of its low chassis, probably one of the lowest built in the world. The main object has been to keep the centre of gravity as low as possible, and to enable this to be achieved the seats have actually been sunk into the floor, so that passengers have to 3it on a level with the propeller shaft, which runs down the centre. There is a German car which has a twolve-cylinder engine of the type used by the Graf Zeppelin when it circumnavigated the globe. The vehicle also has a six-speod gear box, two of the speeds being changed by the suction of the engine from a control on top of the steering column. A car manufactured by the same company which was not on view, howovor, is said to be characterised by a four-

speed gear box, in which the changes are made by the suction of the engine. It w unnecessary to use the clutch when changing. All that haa to be done is to put a small lever on the steering column in position, release the accelera-tor-pedal, and the proper gear is at once changed almost without a change. The Salon also contains many oars which arc front-wheel driven. ACCIDENTS. HOW TO AVOID THEM. First of all see that your brakes are in good order, then make perfectly certain that your clutch works smoothly and that your gears are perfect. See that your lights are working properly and that all four tyres are not merely standing up, but sound. Fit an approved electrical signal device to the rear of the car, and make sure that it does what the manufacturers claim for it. Test your steering gear, your nerves and those of your wife. See that you have a good, sound ulectric horn as well as a deep-toned bulb horn. Test your electric starter, make sure you have spare oil and a tank full of petrol; go over the tools carefully one by one, and do not forget thoroughly to grease every point mentioned in the instruction book. Learn by heart all the recognised traffic signals. Study your route on & map and pay particular attention to oorners, gradients, and so on. After yon have done all this, lock the gafage door and do not stir from your own particular armchairl

NOTES. The Canterbury Automobil® Association has been informed that the main road from Inangahua to Murchison, via Lycll, ia at present closed to through traffic owing to slipp and is likely to remain so for a few days. This means that traffic will need to revert to the road through Maruia, which became the route between the West Coast and Nelson after the earthquake of June, 1929. Visitors to Motonau Beach have always had to exercise care in regard to the tides. To reach the beach it ia necessary to ford the Motonau stream, and motorists who have done this havo sometimes been marooned owing to tlio tide having come in and maae the stream too deep to cross again. It will be good news, therefore > to learn that it in intended shortly to erect a bridge over the mouth of- the stream. Messrs F. W. Johnston (president), 11. C. Hnrl'iy, J. S. liawkos, and P. U. Harman, members of the Canterbury Automobile Association, will be present at th«! quarterly meeting of the South Island Motor Union, to bo held in Invercargill on December sth. It is understood that the Eyro County Council has completed negotiations for the purchase of the land necessary to enable a road to be constructed from tbo Wajmakariri bridge beside the north bank of the Waimakariri "cut" to the church at Clarkville, on the route to Oxford.

The approaches to the new Skew bridge, near Ohoka, on the route between Christchurch and llangiora have been completed, nnd the structure is now open for traffic.

It is announced that the Opel Motor Company, which is now in the hands of General Motors, is preparing to iilnce a small car on the German market at the low price of 1490 marks (£74 10s). Evidently the Opel Company intends to capture the market with this cheap car before the Ford Company's new Cologne works are started next year.

The possibilities of cars that can be used entirely closed or open are occupying the attention of American car manufacturers. At a recent meeting of the Detroit section of the Society of Automotive Engineers, it was stated that attempts have been made to build convertible bodies by using glasses in the doors in combination with the top, which is largely n heritage from the old-time hood. This part-wny step, however, has not proved satisfactory. It is thought, however, that with engineering skill and manufacturing precision it. is possible to build a convertible body which will give satisfactory service. Ho far it ha« not been done on a largo production basis, nor at n cost which fits tho smaller purses, but that day, it is thought, may come very soon.

Mr Andre Jirizac, the eminent French engineer, has perfected a new process ol' refining benzole and "cracked" petrol spirit. The Brissnc process is claimed to reduce refining costs b.v at least 50 per cent., to remove all injurious elements, but to retain at the same time all those deKl m ll ! > ' e which go to make an efficient motor .spirit, some of which are lost by ordinary methods of refining. Lubricating <ils treated in the same way gain in purity and viscosity, and prolonged tests of oils and fuels are claimed to have proved the process commercial innovation of considernolo importnnr^v

On oars fitted with ooil ignition, a simple method of preventing theft is to fit * two-way switch in tho lead between the ignition switch and the ooil, the extra terminal being wired to the electric horn. The two-wav switch is fitted in a concealed position, and when the car is left unattended the switch arm is moved over to the horn circuit. Thus the ignition system is isolated, and when the ignition switch is turned to the "on" position, the horn will sound. It is unlikely that a thief , will stop to investigate the phenomenon I

If all the motor-cars were placed end to end, 98 per cent, of the drivers would immediately get out of line to pass the car in front. It is said that Mr Henry Ford is planning » shipping line of his own in connexion with his European motorcar factories. At Tftcoma (California) motor spirit i* being sold at ljd per gallon. This must be the lowest on record, brought nbout by intensive competition among the producers. Silhouettes of school children painted on metal discs are now used in France to denote schools. Recent statistics show that 76 per cont of the world's total of motor vehicles is m the United States: At somo time in the future motor manufacturers may operate for only ten months in the year, is the prediction ot Mr Henry Ford, as a result of pre-sent-day world conditions. The problem that requires attention nt the moment, in the opinion of Mr Ford, is that of providing steady employment for workmen engaged in the industry. Parisian taxi-cabs enable passengers to listen to wireless broadcast music as they drive along. The taxi-cabs have wireless sets installed in the driver s compartment, and connexions lead to the latest type of cone loudpeaker in the roof of the i >n.partment, which is partitioned off j:om the driver. When a passenger '■iiters the cab, the first polite query of the driver, concerns the type of music preferred, after which the wireless set is tuned-in to one of tho broadcasting stations selected by the passenger. The new Spanish tariffs on cars are calculated upon the weight of the vehjele, which »hpuia' give the Jight car *n advantage over bigger ear*.