STANDING CARS

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, 19 November 1927, Page 13

STANDING CARS

METHODS TO SECURE SAFETY

A car should never be left close to cross-roads or near a bend, if this can possibly be avoided, as its presence may lead to trouble for other drivers If it is necessary to leave a car on a slope, the hand-brake should be firmly applied, stones placed under the wheels, if these are available, and the steeering-wheels so turned that the car will be at once stopped by the kerb or roadside if it does bee in to run downhill. As an addition.safeguard, it may be left in gear, the reverse being engaged if the car is pointing down the hill and the bottom gear if its is facing upwards. Some thiefproof locks hold the gear lever in neutral. When one of these is used the engine cannot, of course, be employed to keep the car from running downhill; but the other precautions should suffice. It is a usual practice to place the gear lever in neutral when leaving a car standing either at home or in the street, and to put the hand-brake on. This leaves the car readv for starting up again when required. But whether this has become a habit or not. it is always desirable to verify the position of the gear lever before starting the engine. It is always possible that it may have been moved bv some mischievous person, or that the driver may have omitted to cary out his usual routine while thinking of something else.