MOTORING

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21417, 8 March 1935, Page 18

MOTORING

NIGHT DRIVING SOME USEFUL SAFETY RULES IMPORTANCE OF GOOD LAMPS Most motorists intensely dislike night driving in built-up areas, where dazzle and inferior vision and confusion caused by a myriad ill-placed lights combine to keep us anxious. There are, however, a number of simple rules and expedients which safeguard traffic work after dark, and some of them are insufficiently valued or practised. First and foremost, few owners make the best use of lamps. The standard headlamps supplied with the car may or may not be adequate. On certain cheap British cars and other cars the standard lamps are poor; and it is no real extravagance to replace them with a pair of first-class British headlamps, which can be superseded by the original pair when the car is due for sale, the good lamps being transferred to the new car. Second, the lamps should be properly set, a job which, in case of doubt, should be entrusted to a competent mechanic. It implies alignment of the actual lamps, together with correct adjustment of the bulb-focusing device. Next in order comes accurate setting of the antidazzle gadget, which usually consists of a steering-wheel lever by which the ofTsidc lamp is extinguished and the reflector of the near-side lamp is both dipped and swung to the left. This latter adjustment is vital for most drivers. As supplied on a new car the lamp may cast an almost useless beam, illuminating a tiny, area of road close ahead on the left. If this is the setting, many drivers cannot obtain adequate vision in the "dipped" position, and the near-side lamp should bo reset to throw a larger patch of light farther ahead. Keeping Windows Clean Night vision is improved by keeping all windows scrupulously clean, including the pane in the tail panel, and by doing away with the dazzle produced by street and car lamps as far as is possible. This latter provision entails the use of an external peak visor of dark green, blue, or purple glass. These vizors are sold with simple attachments for standard cars; if properly adjusted for angle, they do away with much distraction caused by bright, street lamps or (he arclamps mounted outside cinemas and big stores. A small pivoted flap of dark green or blue celluloid can also be mounted inside the windscreen, and lowered in emergencies, as when dazzle is noticeable in a narrow road and there is some risk of cyclists or other unlit obstructions when passing another car. Fouling of the windscreen and windows cannot be prevented in mist and drizzle; it should be minimised by titling a dual wiper, which should be set for firm pressure, so that it actually scours its two fan-shaped sectors of glass absolutely clean. Fouling from within will occur on any cold night by condensation of the' occupants' breath. It can usually be stopped by keeping one window right down, so that the temperature inside the car approximates more nearly to the outside temperature. For long runs on a freezing night, the passengers should be warned lo dress warmly, as the driver intends to open his window: if he closes all windows of a full car on such a night all. glass will steam by condensation. The sole alternative is for the front passenger to keep busy with a cloth. There is no real remedy for fog. It has been demonstrated that, yellow glasses are of extremely little use. Nevertheless one or two of the patent fog lamps are genuine palliatives. "Taking; Chances" Most motorists err by taking chances when they are dazzled. Some on-com-ing vehicle dazzles them so completely lhat they are literally blinded for a few crucial seconds. But they do not stop. The road ahead on the left was clear when they last enjoyed an adequate view of it, and they assume that it is still empty. They forget that for several precious seconds or even more they have been preoccupied with the on-coming driver. The length of this interval is forgotten, but meanwhile the driver has advanced many yards, and the patch of road to his left front may no longer be vacant. An unlit perambulator or handcart or pedestrian or other obstacle may now occupy the vital patch of road, which, in any case, is no longer the same patch which was surveyed by lamplight 20 seconds before. The blinded driver advances into this unsurveyed area and hits somebody or something. Such recklessness is plainly criminal, and would, indeed, be so adjudged bv any court of law. The only sane rule for nightdriving is to stop when you cannot see. Further application of this rule entails garaging the car when fog is genuinely impenetrable. GUIDE FOR MOTORISTS MAPS AT ASSOCIATION'S ROOMS A feature in the new building of the Automobile Association Canterbury is a map room. A great deal of care is being taken in preparing the maps, and they will undoubtedly be of great benefit to motorists. Most of the maps are of counties, and being on a large scale, they show very clearly the many good roads that are open to the touring motorist. Among the maps are:—Road map of the South Island, map of Christchurch and Sumner, Christchurch, Auckland to North Cape, Auckland to Wellington, main highways of the South Island, South Westland, Grey county (showing a very good and comparatively unknown road from Ngahere to the Ahaura river), Lake Sumner, Amuri county (two sections), Cheviot county, Levels county, Ashburton county, Waimate county, Mackenzie county, Geraldine county, Waitaki, the Marlborough Sounds country, the North Island, and Canterbury and Westland. .Routes are still being marked in on the maps, which, when completed, should provide a very comprehensive guide to the Dominion's beauty spots. there may be a slight clash from the spinning gear-wheels. There is no possibility of shock when the drive is taken up, as this occurs automatically, through the free wheel, so soon as the engine is revved to a sufficient extent. The driver must, however, remember: (1) to allow time for the engine to drop to an idle, after releasing the accelerator, before attempting to change, and (2) to move the gear lever straight from one position to another without pausing in neutral. Most free wheels can be locked by means of a facia control, which should only be operated when the engine is actually pulling the car. When the transmission is locked the gears must, of course, be changed in the normal manner, so that every driver will be well advised to mastesmooth gear-changing by careful control of engine speed, j

BY "ROADSTER."

PASSING AT CROSS ROADS A BAD DRIVING PRACTICE ADVICE FROM ASSOCIATION A bad driving practice which, unfortunately, has become rather prominent lately, is that of passing another vehicle going in the same direction over an intersection, says the latest safety message of the Automobile Association Canterbury. This important matter has been referred to before, but the memories of some drivers are fairly short, apparently The law is very definite on the subject, and prohibits the act of passing another motor vehicle within feet of an intersecti 1. There is a great temptation for motorists to put on a spurt to pass a car which might be dawdling, but that is no good excuse for placing oneself or other drivers in a position of danger. While there is no sense in dawdling near an intersection, the dawdler may have seen some traffic factor to cause him to go slow, or even stop, or he may, if he does not know any better, suddenly thrust out an arm to make a righthand turn in the track of the overtaking vehicle. It is bad driving to attempt to pass any vehicle close to an intersection, though some drivers regard it as smart. Because vehicles do not always travel as close to the left as they are expected to, the driver overtaking has to get on to the incorrect side of the road to carry out his dangerous manoeuvre. There is one safe way of making a right-hand turn. It is by sounding the horn, some distance from an intersection, extending the right arm well out from the car, and then making the turn. There is one safe way of passing another vehicle. It is by sounding the horn and then moving smartly past; but never pass another vehicle close to, or on, an intersection. A PROMINENT MOTORIST SIR R. HKATON RHODES Sir H. II cat on Rhodes, patron of the Automobile Association Cautrrbury (Inc.). is one of the most distinguished and respected men in New Zealand. He has had an outstanding career in poliiics, and now in his retirement is known to the public as

a generous friend of all organisations which exist for the public's benefit. Sir Heaton Rhodes was elected patron of the Automobile Association in the second half of la 4 year. The office was made vacant by the death of Sir Arthur Dudley Dobson. Sir Heaton has been a member of the association for a great many years, but until last year he had not. taken an active interest in its affairs. He will open the association's new rooms on March 10." Born at Purau, Lyttclton. in 1361, Sir Heaton was educated in New Zealand and at Brasenosc College, Oxford. He qualified as a barrisier-at-law. and in 1899 was elected to the House of Representatives as member for Ellesmere. He held the seal until 1902, and again from 1905-1925. He became a member of the LegislativeCouncil in 1926, and is still a member He served in South Africa in 1902, and visited Gallipoli in the Great War as New Zealand Red Cross Commissioner. He has at different times held the portfolios of Postmaster-General and Minister for Defence. Sir Heaton is a noted horticulturist, and is patron of many sporting bodies. IS DRIVING TOO EASY? PROGRE-S IN MANUFACTURE OF ENGINES One wonders whether the motor-car manufacturer is not making driving too easy. There are many people who would rather drive a motor-car for an hour or two ,on a line day than do anything else. Driving is a pleasure to them. The purr of the engine is music; the ribbon of road slipping smoothly away under the wheels, and the changing countryside scenes, form the most pleasant of pictures. The soft rush of summer air is good, and so is the new note of the engine as a long, steep hill calls upon it for a little more effort. The hill offers alternative pleasures. If the car dashes up it on top gear the power of the motor gives a glow of satisfaction; if it begins to falter near the summit there is the joy of the swift and silent gear change. The well known and well-tried motor-car is a faithful servant, a good friend, and even a hobby. The maker of the modern motor-car threatens to deny some of these thrills to the man who sometimes drives for the sake of driving—to whom destinations are mere excuses. Engines are becoming so powerful that gear changing is seldom necessary except in starting and stopping, and some makers insist that even on those occasions it shall be done almost automatically. Soon, perhap*, all that the car driver will have to do will be to steer. The car will be able, without the help of the insignificant owner, to do everything except decide where to go. There is, however, another and more cheering side. Motor vehicles have become so necessary to commerce that most men and many women must use them or lose money. That is why the streets and roads are gradually being filled with motor-cars, buses, and trucks, many of them being driven by people who drive because they must, not because they like it—people who have no mechanical instinct or knowledge. Naturally the drivers in this category are more likely to become involved in accidents than their mechanically minded road companions, so it must be admitted that the easier driving can be made, the safer everybody will be—even the long-suf-fering pedestrian.