MOTORS & MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 234, 27 June 1919, Page 2

MOTORS & MOTORING

(By-Clutch.). Stopping Behind Tramcars. ,„!' may. not be generally known by Wellington motorists and motor-cyclists three -it is. incumbent upon them to-stop when behind stationary tramcars.: Should a motorist bo travelling behind a traincar which, pulls' up at a stopping-place it is his duty: to stop and ledvoa space, of abotit 8 feet,between ith'e tnuncar and his own car. Re iinust hot start his car until uho tramcar. moves forward again. The by-law on the subject reads as follows:—"If any. person is driving a motor-car or motor-cycle in tho rear of a tram carriage that is not standing nt a terminus and such motor-car or motor-cycle is proceeding, in the same direction as such.tram carriage,.such person shall, •it such tram, carriage stops,, or is stationary for the purpose of taking up or setting down passengers, atop such motor-ear.;.or motor-cycle and re-, main in the rear of such tram carriago until .all passengers' .who have aligjited from the tram . carriage . are ' clear of. such tram,carriage, and until all passengers, intending to .board, such, trap; carriage hAvo. boarded the same. ProTided - that- where the • distance .between .the outermost .projection of . the tram carriage mid ' ; the- kerb line of tho near •side, ot the road is hioro than'l7 .feet,' it shall be a sufficient compliance ,with. the provisions of this clause-if the motor-' car or motor-cycle .is driven, past tho :tram carriage oil, the .. neaiv side at ' a .speed of, than. four, miles ah hour" ~ ...

•Traffic Regulations, ' ' One of the subjects to be discussed at the conference of the New Zealand-Auto-mobile. Union to-day will bo that.of< .traffic regulations. This 'is .a matter, about which there has been a good deal of controversy, but on which most motorists have very'.definite ideas. Discussing tho question the other day, a.pro-, niiii'ent Wellington motorist remarked that traffic.; regulations -were made;-.for, the benefit. nntl safety of the general., public:, "The driver of any. .vehicle," lie: said, "is'' as much' a member of the general public as the pedestrian. There is nothing improper, in any properly constituted ■ body suggesting improvements, for the control of • traffic, ■ or in. asking pedestrians'to exercise a little more'care in" the. way : in' which they cross > thestreets in crowded thoroughfares. Of. course, what happens .in streets.that.are,, but little used does not matter at all,, but in certain congested areas greater' cafe needs to be exercised. In bi» centres' in other parts of the world, for instance, in America, on the Continent, add even in London, the pedestrian traffic is-regulated in certain areas just a 8 strictly ids .the vehicular traffic,: and. it would be well if the New Zealand Automobile Union could consider this aspect 6i the question and bring down some recommendations to lay before, the Minister." " ■ ■' ■■■•"., ..

Objects of Automobile Union. -."." Judging by correspondence which appears in the Press from time to time, there appears" to be an" impression- that any'suggestion's nlade' by any body ot motorists are: for the''benefit .of-: the pleasure only.. This is not lev The New Zealand Automobile Union is not primarily., concerned with- the pleasure motaristAbut with all se t-pnh pelled traffic. If reference is made to tho various trade returns,it will be seen tbat fully 70 per cent, of the motor traffic m New Zealand is not pleasure but- business traffio. ..... .

Eliminating, "Glare." :.-'•■ .. It is mnderetood: that at the annual conference of the New Zealand Automobile Union to-day a very; important re. port will'bo brought down,on.the Bull. iect of. head lights. The union recently Mil a number of tests made by Professor Clark, phvaies professor at Victoria Urt-lege.-the object being to ascer am what measure of light- is reasonable> to* the needs of the motorist, and the safety aim convenience of. those, who have to encounter ; niotor-car. head lights. ..Tha teste w&ain- ;, thovdireotioa/ct,,Bu:mg,,ade.TOt6 illumination, at' theiiig what-is called }?, [ MfZ, ly-cimsidered-.that w : hate,ver device; or-de-to :.=° unter should \» absolute .fixtures, aijd-not ,bo. optative-at the wilhof the dr Verpfti»; ear. the op niqn of the , Union all such.deviccs should be fixed-by. » law, which should also.be a general statute, not subject to the control of any ocal authority. .Before the PJ**?* such a law adequate and scientific tests ould bo made so that the imposed would not be unreasonable or im. possible of fulfilment. ~,- .-,;. ■

Wellington Automobile, Club, .V scheme is on foot to iucreaSe tiw. membership of.tW Wellington AutolW.■ bile' Club to 2000 members. At present the club contains about-only 200 meni> tors,which is a very small number con, sidefiu" that the Canterbury Cmb lms some tfcntf like 1100,' Auckland ovei; 600, Otep 400°, and the Wa ««<¥«!«$&. That so ii.uch,«pa by. " ho « ld >3ffirt bv Wellington motorists in the "'fans or the lo'alclub.is very inir Hiat so much ins been done by tue otos of the club in the way of md cins county and borough councils to erect SS danger-posts, and to carry out all of -*m*™ the great bulk of motorists appear.to be '^accomplish.; Surely every who of the club now and A igurtM.

Road to Paekakariki. _ ' , •. Active steps are being; ta^ tav h. Wellington Automobile Club m urfcuio the Govermaont to construe a new, road from Paremata to Paekakariki. Should tto project- be carried into execubon it *i 1 mean that the dangers of the Paekakiriki Hill will bo done away with, i? plan of the proposed;™* route,.has. been prepared,' which shows that e Kest point ou the road would be the PuSa Hill, which is only 270 ft. above seaCl T«s would bo /an obvious immovement on existing conditions, for S Mating the Paekalcariki Hill motorists"have to 8 climb 840 ft. above seUoYel and incur risks which would not-be present were' tho proposed new road conducted Copies of'the.plan are heing Stched to hi public fedta= artchambers of commerce interested, nnd a deputation'will shortly wat oniha-Minßtor of Public Works.in reference to the proposal. -■ .. . ■ ■ '

Voluntary Motor Corps. More members are urgently squired for tho Wellington Voluntary Motor Corps[The work done : ,by tho corps since its nception has been splendid, and has earned high .praise from the military although rte harvest of rotiimuw troops is, and,*ill ue still, more plentiful, the Wu*" *™ 'fit The eorps has a membership of a little over one hundred members, which is an altogether inefficient »»»>** ° meet all exigency and■ «««» L'encies. On occasions when two trooSpsmTive.or n large .number of S Wellington by train orJerry steamer,-tho resources of the coins are taxed to the uttermost, and the difficulie' are in no way lightened if some carowners find it inconvenient to turn out Since its formation about twelve months wro over 40,000 persons, including: both 's^ldiers ? aad next-of-kin, have .ta» *»«£ ported- bv tho corps, which is, a \er) Cseworthy record. ■ Previous- to that time the Wellington Automobile Club under the direction of Mr. ft. J. Mott, used to convey the wounded mid sick soldiers to their homes, but no help was f Scorning from the Defence authorities o? anybody else. It soon became evident that sonto better organisation was required, hence the formation of the Voluntary Motor Corps. Captain W. lCr and Mr. St.ott took in hand the work of obtaining members, but although they have .achieved wonders m the face of great difficulties, it is to be resetted that more Wellington; motorists have not seen their way to join the ranks of tho corps andJend their assistance in a work which, in the interests of the returning men, is of vei'y pressing,-im-portance. During the last month a caurius has beeu made of a number of

business houses in the city, with the result that upwarsd of ,£2OO has been bu!?> scribed .towards the funds of the corps. Tin's, money will have to be expended'on taxi-cabs when sufficient cars are not available for the carriage of soldiers and their .next-of-kin. ... : \v : Fare Card-Holder, ■"*" An innovation which is shortly to be introduced on all, taxi-cabs in-Welling-ton will be a fare card-holder and'indicator. The card will face the passenger, and will contain full details regarding .the scale of charges. On the hack.there will be. an indicator with a elide, which will show whether the taxi-cab is engaged-or Available for hire. The indicators will also state, how many passengers each cab is licensed to carry. There are HO taxicabs plying for hire in Wellington, and all of them will require to befitted with. Ithe appliance, which- will be supplied by the City Motor ■ Inspector, Mr. Tirake.- • Some Useful Hints.- : It sometimos happens that it is hard to remove the hub cap from the hub of a-- wheel, or a wheel nut.' Under these circumstances, use any kind of wrench : that will fit the cap or nut (the one furnished with' the car if it hhs a' suitable' handle) and. apply over" the handle apiece of pipe long enough to give a good leverage. Place under the pipe at tho outer end a screw jack, and raising the jack will unscrew the.nut. .It :'s better to use 'ram water in the radiator of a car than hard water be-' cause it contains no lime and thus csri-' not throw, down a deposit in the cylinder or in the radiator. Here and there. That motor vehicular traffic is increasing in Wellington is evidenced by the fact that the number, of registrations now in the hands'of the City Motor Inspector totals 4205. This includes motor-cars,-motor-cycles,- and motor lorries;- In 1912, tho number of registrations was only 750, so that in' seven years there has been an increase of 3455. The delegates to the annual cpnference. of the New Zealand Automobile ■ Union, will be entertained at dinner at the Empire-Hotel to-night by. the members of the Wellington Automobile Club. ■■-. .Colonel-C. M. Gibbon, and Mr. William Brown, of Lower Hutt, have resigned from, the Wellington Automobile Club owing to their departure for thoOld .Country. ... . ■ , ■ •. The: Wellington delegates at to-day s conference of the New Zealand Automo-bila"-Union, will be Dr. C- Prendergast Knight; aud Messrs. H. J. Stott and C.. M.' Banks. ; It is stated that several deaths attributable to.tho fumes from the exhaust of engines run in badly r ventilated garages have occurred recently in New York. iccovding to a contemporary, the United States is producing beailie at the rate of 12,600,000 gallons .'.per annum, and using it at the rate of over 14,000,000 gallons per'annum! ' '■'".' ... "; A slight.skid of a !l car which gave a shock to the heart of a well-known Portsmouth doctor, Was the prime cause of his sudden death from syncope recently,, it. was stated at the inquest. .The Japanese propose to employ their' large engineering 6hops, erected to deal with' the munition requirements of the Allies, for motor-car construction. The same usage will be made of the naval repair shops. Engineer delegates have already been sent by the interests concerned to the United States to learn the, secrets of quantity production, the. intention being,to market light cars at very competitive prices. ' ..-■..,'' .'"'. Prom the trend of affairs in England, France,/and Italy, the; steel' disc, wheel may be widely, adopted for. postwar cars. This-is a matter of considerable inter-, est to the owner-driver,'inasmuch as it means less work in keeping car wheels' clean, and less trouble in tyre changing. Lighting-up time-:-T6-day, 4.30 p.m. Next Friday, 4.33 p.m.;, ; , .

South Island Motorists' Conference. A' conference of: SpUith Island motor organisations was hold yesterday (says a Press Association.telegram .from Christchurch). The Mayor, krho presided, referred ~to the, necessity .for modern Toad construction and" the.re£iilatioii,of'speed and the bridgingof rlvere' liable' to' flood.' M: 1 F.' Jbhnson, 'ohwim'an of iließy-laws ■the'Canterbury'Assooiatiori; moved 'a -remit/- which'-was• carried; in regard-to nhyon6'unlawfully' using a motor vehicle or procuring the hire pi a motor vehicle "by fraud. A committee was set up to bring the-matter of street traffic before the neit UUnHipal conference. ..'■"' -..