ROAD SENSE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 170, 11 March 1932, Page 7

ROAD SENSE

CAUTION THE BEST RULE OF THE ROAD. KEEP TO THE LEFT. Before the advent of the automobile, road rules and courtesies were punctilieusly handed down, and there was a code of behaviour, not written, but universally understood. With the coming of the automobile things changed. The same rules applied — they apply to-day— but there arose various and numerous contingencies not known to the horse-drawn vehicle driver. The bicycle was the instrument, more than any other, which extended road usage to the multitude^ and was then the fastest vehicle on the road. The cyclist represented the new road nser drawn from the populace, from the class which had never before had charge of a vehicle on the public highway. Being a particularly vulnerable and fragile vehicle, the rider of it had to conform, and Conform quickly, with the accepted.usage. In many cases he had to sink his full rights, because neither as att iridividual nor as a* class was he strong enough to enforce them. ' But the cyclist gained road sense in a way which was not possible in the case of any other road nser. Road sense comes of road use. It can come in no other way,, as any kind of extended

road use will give road sense to any but the really careless and inconsiderate. The first lesson, taUght by sheer force of self-protection, of course, is to keep to th'e left. The beiginner generally hugs the left side, of the road closely; but soon he finds it more comfortable and easier to drive well on the crown of the road. Real road sense comes to our aid in any snch contingency because it immediately counsels caution. Do not attempt to pass ti.ll all is clear. That way sense and safety lie.