Auto Gossip

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31006, 11 March 1966, Page 9

Auto Gossip

by

A.J.P

Those Vents I had a telephone call from a local motor accessory firm about those window vents I mentioned last week. It seems such vents were on sale in New Zealand some time ago but, for some unknown reason, they did not “catch on.” A man who had used them told me they were most successful, and he could not understand why they did not sell well. Apparently there are still some vents left for cars other than the latest models, so if you are interested it might be worth while to inquire at your local garage or accessory shop. Learners People tend to be very thoughtless where the property of others is concerned, and I am always annoyed when I find persons leaning against or sitting on my car. Similarly, some persons seem quite unable to walk past a car without slapping its fender or bonnet or kicking its tyres.

Not surprisingly cars often suffer some slight damage as a result of all this, but the offender is always far away by the time the annoyed owner appears. . . . and Cyclists Similarly, some cyclists are extremely thoughtless, and think nothing of leaning their rusty and battered steeds against a car door. Sometimes I think some cyclists would go 100 yards to lean their machine against a newlypainted car. More cycle stands and stricter policing could reduce this annoyance considerably. Control The control of cyclists in Christchurch seems to leave much to be desired. Many

times in the last few weeks I have seen cyclists ride through red lights, travel at night without lights, cut through pedestrians on crossings and turn across traffic without signalling. Cyclists are involved in many of the city's road accidents. I wonder why more are not killed. Intensified control, particularly of unlit cyclists and those who ride three and four abreast, seems long overdue. Deaf As Well? Several times in recent weeks I have come up behind someone on the main road, flashed by lights, switched on my indicators, in several cases sounded my horn, and pulled out to pass. Each time the driver in front has pulled out himself when I was almost alongside. Through carelessness a driver might neglect to look in his mirror before pulling out to pass. His mirror might be badly adjusted and he might not see the headlight flash behind him. But surely he would hear a horn blown about 15ft away from him? This behaviour is careless, dangerous and stupid, and is, perhaps, another example of the prevailing serious lack of attention and courtesy on our roads. The actions of the three drivers who I recently saw execute a slow U-turn in front of rapidly approaching main road traffic fall into the same category. One driver was towing a caravan, which made the situation worse. The other two were women. Quote of the Week “The ‘family’ sports coupe will cover a standing mile in 18.2 seconds, as against 17.2 seconds for the normal model.”—From an overseas item on the new Jaguar E-type 2 plus 2.