MOTORS & MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 31, 31 October 1919, Page 2

MOTORS & MOTORING

(By "Clutch.") Motor Insurance Scheme Following is tho schenio'of motor insurance prepared by Mr. W. BennchampPl.ttts. secretary of tho -\ew Zealand Automobile' Union:— (11 To form a strictly co-operative mutual insurance company, consisting ouiv of members of associations affiliated to (ho union. other peiron shall be permitted' lo participate in the sclipnie. 12) The headquarters of the company shall be in Wellington, and tho several aililiiited associations shall bo the provincial agents of the company. The secretary of the union shall' be the secretary and manager of the .company, s'nbiect. to the general control of the board of directors, and he shall be paid such remuneration as the directors shall;determine. The secretaries of the affiliated associations Shall be the provincial secretaries and managers, and shall be naid such remuneration as the directors shall determine. ■■■ . '31 There will" be no fixed capital in the ordinary sense, and therefore no shares and no dividend to be paid thereon, tho working capital being arranged for as follows :-(a) All proposals for insu ranee are to lx> made to and recommended bv the local association to which tho applicant belongs, and to be accompanied bv a deposit of £ — P?i' cent, on the amount of the proposed insurance, such deoosit to be forwarded to the hc-ui office (less agent's commission) for the mirpose of forming a fund out of which claims and expenses arc to be paw. (a) Front time to time, as may be required, calls would be made upon members pro rata on the amounts of their insurances, for the purpose of meeting claims and exuenses or of increasing, reserve funds. ' . , '4) As the insurances are to be restricted to members of affiliated associations, onlv the best class of risk will be undertaken. The usual precautions will, however, be taken in regard to acceptance of risks, valuation.-and inspections of cars, and in the settlement of claims. (5) Provision will be made for the cancellation of a member's insurance on nonpayment of his calls or on his ceasing to te a member of an affiliated association. Adequate provision' will bo made for the voting powers.of members and for the election of directors, etc. fti) Nominally the liability of members will be unlimited; This point may be used as an a-gument to disparage the scheme, but is not really relevant, as tho members' liability is limited by the OToiiortion which the loss or losses bear to the total insurances of all the members, nnd which the-total insurances of all members bear to the amount of any individual insurer's liability. . With a large business spread over the wliplc. of the. Dominion, no fear need be anticipated on this score, and for the "same reason (hero need bo no fear on account of lack of reinsurances in certain,localities

"This is a brief synopsis of the scheme as designed by Mr. P.. W. Johnston, of Christclnu-ch," Mr. Eeauchanip-l'latts points out. "He has >>iven a great amount of very valuable time "to a consideration of the matter, and has drawn the form of memorandum and articles of. association. I desire to make full acknowledgment-of (he valuable assistance I have received from him. In submitting, this -proposal, I would report that in one particular I differ from Mr. Johnston, and as 'that difference' is fundamental I think it is Sitting' that it should be stated clearly. I disagree' entirely with the 'deposit', system, and urge very strongly that-nn annual nremium be substituted, such premium" to be.at a rate yet to bo. calculated and to be sufficiently-high to meet the needs of the company, and sufficiently low to render it h non-paying proposition for the ordinary insurance. com : panics which migiit f'"ei disro-ec! 'o enter into competition with us by reducing, their rates to the same level. Should the rate struck prove, by experience, to be too low, it would hot. be a difficult matter to raise it; on the other hand, should it be- found to be 100 high it could be proportionately -reduced, and the surplus either held in reserve, or distributed by way of boniis ;amon»st ! the contributors. AH that is necessary is an annual income sufficient'to cover working expenses, and form a fund out. of which claims can be met promptly after proper settlement. There will be no dividends to earn, as there will be no capital in the ordinary sense, and consequently mi shares. The scheme as propounded by Mr, Johnston is. in my opinion, defective only in the one point I have mentioned." As an illustration .to , the drawbacks of the 'denosit.' system, let it bo supposed that the total denosits made bv subscribers totalled .t'sooo, and, further, lot it be assumed- that nn losses took place for a period of years, it would not take- Ipm; for the expenses of .rim- ■ ninrj Vd absorb the whole of the dcnosils,

lviitlcnnij a fresh call necessary. !Bit.i\er the first deposit lie a fairly bis one. for if nrt it will need• onstnnt ica process more irksome than that of u regular system of. annual premiums income. My experience as an nil; t'for (if insuranoo companies, and ns an adjuster of claims for <nnity' venra ■jiiusea me to urge to the utmost, the Annual premium s<eVme. 'Th? WairarAna,\.\. have, had. I'n operation a "(■'•"Ttic limilpr to that T now advocate, •>m', lwi- fend it -a »occess.. Should this

asi-.-cintion d(-ei.le to come into the. ventral scheme. I would Hiprgest tlint their focal eoTiinany be wom-d nil J>y their oivp' official!, and .-. ~n -,\ stfirl '.main Ti" flip nn : on. ''ho'ii'd fho' 'niacin tio-n meet with nr.v dimculty in fwlismg their rc-«efvo-fi.<,il4 (part cfi which are. I underHand, in war bond';),' (he unioir could purchase these ar'ntr nut, of income, so ,M to permit a ready distribution." Motoi\ Horns, Wiowing on the Coroner's remarks rcs;>?clin? the medley of sounds fmm motor horns, tho o.uesticn of uniformity in thece instruments has again been raised ■ (says fie Melbourne "Argus"). Even If such' control were practicable, it would bo a I'iiv mere 'dangerous method than now obtains; people would become so accustomed to the o:>3 monotonous .sound that it would cease to have the desired effect, as witness tin'stolid driver of a horse ■U'hiclo on tho "train track, whose auric nerves refuse to be tickled with the reoratcd clangour of the gripmau's ball— ho hears it :n often nnd everywhere. It has been said, tlint motorists do not nuund their, horns until close unon the .person to bo warned. That is far from being correct in all rases. 'When the horn is sounded'far behind, the man or woman iii front intuitively judges m the distance interveuimr and invariably immediately forgets until awakened by another toot clcse at hand- Too frenuently, however, he or slio fails to caleh tho sound ns a warning unless it is sometliinir new and weird. In the city t.horthe sound of tho motor horn is rarely iuard. People use their eyes as well n< their ears.

General Efficiency. , Efficiency in a- touring car engine, is the main factor which has to be considered by designers and makers, but for read work the word .'efficiency should not 'be taken to mean absolute liiaummn power from a minimum quantity -of fuel, or even nminnim power from a jiiven cubic capacity. The. word "effjeie-iiey" is taken to mean all-round utility-that -is, liveliness on Uio road eroneinv in fuel eoiisiimpti.in. Rood hillclimbing, and lii«t. but not least, velia. bility tind long life. It. is well known that- a racing engine which is eflieient to the last decree as .regards power from a Riven piston displacement is in 'most, cases unsuitable for touring, for in order to obtain high revolutions and power, the reciprocating weights have to be cut dmvn to leave onlv a. small margin of safely, and very often, the fuel consumption eannol-be exp'cle;! to compare with n. similar-sized engine suitable for tourin;. On the other hand, an engine which is'tuned for a petrol consumption trial would not. wive off sufficient power or have sufficient flexibility to satisfy the av-raw driver, and therefore a comprolnise h:>s to be made.

Garage Proprietors' Conference. .'.'.'.. The conference of the • New Zealand motor ganige proprietors eutitiimos its sitting at Pnlmcrstou North'(says our special 'correspondent). The whole of yesterday afternoon was taken Up in disciissimr (lie question of motcr traffic generally and more especially its boiler regulation for the benefit; of the public. It was eventually -decided to ask Hit Clove; mnont to give effect to the follow, •mr suggestions in any legislation which may bo brought forward on the mailer:

Keasouablo speed limit: Not less thnSj eight miles per hour.at crossings, and not less than 15 miles per hour in anyother place; provided flint this shall not afford a defence in cases where un» dc-r the narliiular eircuu'istuiiees at tho time a lower speed in the opinion of the Court «;■■-. neccssr.'-y for safety. CertifiMites of ability should be abolish, ed. All drivers should be licensed and no license, shoud be issued without a prior lest of ability.

Licenses should be, liable to endorsement for any conviction, and to suspension .or, cancellation whether any ofl'enco is committed or not on application to a. Stipendiary Magistrate. In a case of accident, ;i motor driver is to stop and give, his name and address and the noma of the owner of the car, etc., if «v qiiired to any person requesting snmei and if tho person or persons injured in such an accident or any one of them, ore incapable of making such a request and no othoi person shall make such a request I hen the driver of the molof shall within a reasonable time report the accident, and his name and address to a police officer, justice of the peace, postmaster, or clergyman, whose duty it shall bo to make a'note-of the name and report it to the nearest police station. Illegal use of motor-cars and motorcycles or obtaining the hire of same, by fraud to be made a criminal offence.

Safely sidings (say haif a chain long or where pos'-ih'e one chain long) should be provided o» ih? vehicle drivers' right hand side; of tho road as h<s approaches tho crossing at all railway crossings Only two would'be. required at each crossing.

Parking,ears: Now that the motor has become universal and the garages aro filled to overflowing, parking places in streets in various parts of the cities s'-'-nld bs provided. The. law as it is at present, if strictly enforced, would render all motor trader* (jiihject to prosecution. At present tho general identification mark assigned to a motor trader is limited to use on any motor on trial after completion or on trial bv a purchaser. This is not virtu chough" All motor traders' cars should havo removable number plates. A number should be. assigned to the tratief and he should -be held responsible • for assigning the number with mi additional identification letter to each of his drivera and seeing that they use the same. This would do away, witiv the objection tuers is in some quarters to the promiscuous use of trade numbers by various drivers in which case it is impossible to identity any particular car or driver. Jottings. It is reported that the Jlirseh Copper and Brass Works Company,,of Berlin, is experimenting with a pneumatic hub, with a view to dispensing with pneumatic lyres. The rubber shortage inGermany, continues to be very serious, and the" Automobile Technical Section of the Imperial Utilisation Office announces, that, substitutes must be used. In certain urgent cases rubber tyres will ba supplied, and they, will also lie issued for motor bicycles. ' ■ • • The question of tyre mileage is a subject that interests all motorists, and at the same time is one upon which it is almost'impossible to form-even nn approximately correct estimate. There are eo'many factors that enter into the question—the weight: of car. power of enpine, the. skill of driver, the pace travelled (fast or slow), the method of driving around corners, careless use of brakes, attention to tyre inflation, and roads driven over—being-amongst ..the most important. . .Then, again, 'faulty wheel alignment may upset one for nothing wears tyres so nuickly. Ver}; seldom will a. car-owner believe that the alignment is at fault, but it is more in evidence than most c.arists think. Then, again, there is another important factor, and/that is (he variations that must occur in fabric and rubber, and • their treatment in manufacture. No tvremal;«r in the world has yet'succeeded in mnkiii"' bis oiitnuf of covers of uniform, enuabilities as far s'.s -wear-is concerned. When oilei observes how great'numbers of' drivers ill-treat their tyres by faulty and cureless driving, the wonder is that h'res 'rive the average wearing results th«v do.

• The "coiii=niupHoii of petrol in America iq ..enormous. In J9U 1300 million gallons were consumed, whilst in WW- despile war d'""nnds. +he fiei'vcs had increased •to 2RSD million callous. ' It is no wander scioniists are looking fonvnvd, with uncertainty ns to .where .supplies arc to come from in another ten years. Lighting up time: To-day, 6.29 p.m.; next' Friday.-6.38 p.m.'