WATER AS LUBRICANT.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 246, 14 September 1940, Page 4

WATER AS LUBRICANT.

DANGER IN ROAD USAGE

“The fact that water acts as an excellent lubricant lor tyres iir their contact with the road is/overlooked by far too many drivers, not only in braking but in steering,” says tho latest road safety message of the Manawatu Automobile Association. “On the paved highway or street alter a shower of rain there is a cushion of water upon which the tyres run. That cushion of water is, in extent, a lubricant which, becomes.ail enemy of tho brakes and tyres. When it is mentioned that the linn or cushion of water may overlay an already greasy road; a load greasy trout oil drippings, or a road surface polished and worn smooth bv fast and continuous traihe, tho driver may realise the extent ol tho risks lie runs even in driving with extreme caution. “That cushion of water provides a first-class winter driving hazard, a trap which may encompass the downiall, overturn or upset ot any driver caught unawares. But no safe, .thoughtful .driver would be caught oil 1 his guard, lor there is no room lor preoccupation lor one second in driving tune, it veil a split second, may be too much time. Vigilance must never falter.

■’Because of this dangerous cushion of water, drivers arc counselled, particularly at this period of the year when roads are wet, or otherwise treacherous, to keep a safe distance behind .vehicles tlioy might be trailing, to guard against tile use of train rails, where they exist, to guard against the indentations in which tram rails are set. to avoid speed and acute turns at speed, and to avoid giving too line a margin ot distance between their vehicles and others approaching or when they are overtaking and passing other vehicles going in tiic same direction. Wily? Because of the film of water on the road. AVhcn trailing a car at any time, travel at such speed tiiat you can halt in half the distance of clear road ahead. It is the halfdistance rule. Train lines are good for the springs, but damaging to the tyres, which skid on them readily. You must have experienced the sensation in dry weather when the indentations of tram lines have, so to speak, taken charge of your front wheels. Watch those indentations in wet weather, particularly, when that watery cushion is providing a little extra trouble for you. If you do not supply an ample working margin between your vehicle and others, when approaching or passing, your car or the other may ‘float’ into each other. And on corners easy, deliberate, gradual turns should he made without jerkineys. Remember that all four wheels are riding on a cushion which is your servant hut which quite as readily may become your master, and land von in+o a patch of costly, worrying bother.”