MOTOR SMASHES.

Hutt News, Volume 3, Issue 2, 5 June 1930, Page 11

MOTOR SMASHES.

IS .IT ANY WONDER?"

DRIVERS NOT TESTED,

THINKING IN FEET. PER SECOND JUDGE *S (SUGGESTION ENDORSED.

"I quite agree with Mr . Justice Blair/ 7 said Mr B. J. Laird,.motor accidemt adjuster, when asked to" give an opinion on the suggestion made by Mr Justice Blair that there would be fewer accidents if motor drivers were to estimate their speed in feet per-second'in-3t«a<L of in miles per hour:

All accidents happened withiii a period of two seconds, said Mr Laird. The reason was that, travelling^at 20 miles an hour, a vehicle would cover 60 feet in two seconds. At 20 miles an hour, a stopping distance for a' two-brake vehicle was 37£ feet.' In half, a second, tke minimum thinking time, the vehicle had travelled, a further 15-feefc -The standard ear was driven with the foot -accelerator, and the driver, after decid ing to think, had to transfer Ms foot to the brake. The result was that if a . man could stop his ear within, 50 feet he could do all that eouJci reasonably be expected. Therefore, if two vehicles, travelling at 20 miles an hour meet at an intersection, without having previously sighted each other, they had only ten feet to spare. There was less than two seconds' time in which a collision • could be averted, and at that distance a • crash was inevitable. • T ;;

Thinking in feet per secoridy. said Mr Lairc:, gave a driver a clear idea of the •control lie had over the vehicle, because a.U thought reaction had to be done with-

in two seconds.

TIME OF MENTAL. REACTION

in referring to Mr Justice Blair>s statement that '"most author)ties agree that half a second allowance at least must be assumed for mental reaction,'l Mr Laird said that at least onet second would be required for the ordinary diriv•er. The Yellow Cab Company of Chicago, employing over 6000 drivers, had a special test' vfor. drivers before they were allowed to liandle a vehicle. They as•ertained the time it took a man to'thini when faced with an emergency.: Asimit; lar machine was introduced into uSJew Zealand) and some 200 men were tested. The best time was one second; 75 per cent registered 1A seconds; arieL a number exceeded two seconds. These it

must be borne in mind, were professional taxi drivers. There were probably inaccuracies in the clocking and that might have allowed for some fraction o fa second. Allowing for that, however, the test woulci indicate that the better part of a second was required for the .ordinary driver.

Furthermore, he said, the Yellow Cab •"Company had testing machines for the • degree of anticipation and the degree of recklessness of their drivers. Ever singe that had been introduced into "Chicago the reduction in accidents had been substantial.

TDEATH RATIO HIGHER THAN IN

XT.S.A.

If that was deemed necessary in C*hi-

cago, said Mr -Laird,- it was, time that some similar. test was introduced into New Zealand.. Despite contrary* assertions, New Zealand had a higher ratio of death due; to motor accidents than the United States ana; it was time that something was done tft rectify that appalling condition. At the present time drivers in, New Zealand were tested in the. manipulation of the vehicles, alone. Theywere riot, questioned about their knowledge of the regulations and underwent ,no physical and mental tests. Mr Laird asked, ■>'." Was it any won&'er that motor accidents occurred?'■'/.

Mr Laird concluded "by giving a graphic picture of the motor situation as he saw it. ''Imagine, y> he vsaid, "a game of football. Four or five of the

thirty-players, have not "parsed a physical test. . A 'big majority of the other players - have an inadequate of the rules., The refere/e does not know

the. law.J3, .or puts his ..pwn'Jntrepßetations on them r ;undj; to go a bit further^: let us say that, some of the spectators are strolling about the fielci. I ask you, is it any wonder that accidents occur?"