H.M. THE MOTOR.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1536, 4 September 1912, Page 3

H.M. THE MOTOR.

THE RULER OF THE ROAD. [By Sylvius.] "Honk! honk!—honk! honk!" It is the lordly voice of the motor saying "Clear tho way—clear tho way for his Majesty the Motor!" The little people who are old-fashioned or poor enough to walk look over their shoulders with n glint of fright in their cyi's, to note the proximity 0/ the cause of'all the pother— which the rod-tied Socialist loves to call ' rashion's Juggernaut"—and either hurry to cross in front of tho portentous bettloheaded ear or wait with trained discretion its passing, and, fur their pains, be en-, veloped in tt dense cloud of pungent funles. The motor-car has come along so slowly, and has usurped the horse with and wil iiout the carriage by such imperceptible gradations, that the limn in the street, cowed into subjection by the despotic "Honk! honk" aforementioned, and the reports of many accidents, has with that ready regard for his own life and limb learned to pay a respect: to the newest power vehicle out of nil proportion to. its importance. The reference is to the absolute freedom which the motor vehicle bus asserted its right to the road. The City Cauiieil has luund it a somewhat difficult ln«k to legislate for the motor, and for years hardly dared to exercise the vague rights which it; 'had under the motor by-law. There was always a check when it came to defining what is a reasonable rate of speed, and after that there was Hie still more perplexing- problem of proving the rate of speed. Many an honest policeman believes himself to bo a good judge of speed, but without the measured mile—the speed detector of the Old Country—his evidence on the point is often of about as much value as that of a jelly fish. Thirty miles an hour is often achieved by cars and cycles in Courtenay Place, Clyde Quay and Oriental Bay—the comparison b> tween the pace of a car or cycle and that of a tramear going full speed is proof enough of that—and the numbsr-of "what-niight-have-been-a-serious-aceident" type of escapes are altogether.of frequent occurrence.

Many a motorist misses the point that one of the cult with similar ideas on the etiquette of the road might at the same moment flash out from one of the cross streets at .the .same rate of spesd. Ouly the other day a car and a cycle, going at what they both declared was a moderate rate of speed, converged at a point, with the result that the cyclist was helped into the adjacent police station with a badly-cut and broken leg. A real pond smash may come day put an end to the vagueness which exists as to whether the police or the City Council authorities are the responsible people to attend to the practical regulation of motor traffic. Drivers of horse vehicles have been known to bo summoned in Wellington for trotting round corners, and have had to pay the penalty for such recklessness; but tho motor is king, and his imperious "Honk! honk!" is too overwhelming for tho average constable, with or without the new uniform. Besides, the average policeman takes time to think —a thing which some motorists are never guilty of —and before he has time to say to himself: "By Jove, that fellow's a-goins it," the enr is a sppcl: in the distance, and the number nought but a puff of polo blue gas. Do not let it bo understood that the writer is opposed to the moior-car or cycle as such. Some day when the cest of living goes down and wages (tut, tut, salaries) go .up, lie intends to' Tun to motoring as his first extravagance, and as we are all human, may yet have to face the magistrate on a charge of furious driving, but until he is given the opportunity cl" contracting that form of recreation (which is said to be strangely joyful) he can fit in the cool and eudeavour to restrain others from encouraging accident.

Not so very long ago I went Tor a spin on a - 35-i0 li.p. car to Forirua. The roads were good and the weather perfect, but that rush through space from Ngahauranga to Porirua took a year oft" my life. I tried to smoke—impossible! 1 tried 1° converse —impossible! The hedge-rows were not hedge-rows at all—they were green boards creeled.horizontally, and the sheep in the paddocks were white streaks on green baize. When I recovered my breath, iny companion said: "Good run down the hill!" With bloodshot eyes, I told him that compared with that speedy track the road to ruin was a fool. He didn't attempt to understand. He had been motoring for six months. Did it ever strike you how supremely and luxuriously arrogant the motor-car is? The better the car the greater the arrogance. The steam locomotive has a strength and dignity all its own, but it is entirely a dependent factor, rigidly circumscribed /in its sphere of action. The stennirlaunch may look smart, and the landau suggests ease and comfort, but the big powered car is the most pugnaciously arrogant' thing that man has ever invented, and when the great grey or brown or yellow creation comes suddenly out of nowhere on a lone country road, and all one hears as it flashes by is the low hum of the motor dying away to a whimper before you can think, one dimly realises that man has deliberately humbled himself by the work of his hands. In despair you arguo sub-consciously, what after all is the use of legs'? Why cannot wo bo born with a motor attachment that will carry us there and back at GO miles an hour? Legs Eeem to bo merely the means provided .by nature for getting out of the way whenever a "Honk! honk!" strikes tho ear.

I have a distinct recollection of the quiet-joy with which I used to take round Oriental liay on a fine Sunday afternoon in the pre-motor days. All gone now. Tho gentle sweep of perfect roadway is sacred to the use of "Honk," and the sweet air from the harbour of yesterday is to-day oflen a chemical compound.

It is all very dispiriting.