IS IT SAFE PRACTICE?

NZ Truth, Issue 1212, 21 February 1929, Page 19

IS IT SAFE PRACTICE?

Pillion Riding On Modern , Motor-cycles

Recently there was of an outcry on the safety of pillion riding 1 m Various parts of the world. Is it safe?

THE whole question, of safety rests not with the machine — any modern machine is safe for pillion work — but with the rider. A man who causes an accident when he is carrying a pillion passenger would probably cause the same accident if he were m, charge of a car, perambulator, or any other form of vehicle, .and. the mere fact "that there are two people on the machine instead of one has usually nothing whatever to do with the .'cause of the accident. In fact, tha addition of "ballast" over the rear wheel tends to make ■ a machine le6s prone to mishaps than when no such weight is carried. Every -motor cyclist who carries a pillion passenger owes it to himself and to his passenger to provide her (or him) with a comfortable seat and footreats, and to insist that the passenger sits astride.

There ai-e many varieties of comfortable seats on the market which | merely require to be clipped to a carrier, and the rider's choice m this niattor must be left to individual taste. Where no carrier is fitted to a machine as standard, it can usually be obtained from the manufacturer as an 'extra." Pillion foot-rests should be tried m various positions until the most comfortable setting: for. the passenger has been found. In conclusion, it r should be stressed that the rider should never take the slightest risk when he is carrying a pillion passenger. If he breaks his neck, and his neck only, when he is by himself, it is his own affair, but with a pas- . senger on board it is a different matter. It is also advisable to take out an insurance policy covering pillion riding, just m case the other fool round the corner does something mad.