CYCLE AND MOTOR NOTES.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 49, 22 February 1912, Page 2

CYCLE AND MOTOR NOTES.

4- dangerous, practice that appears to be becoming more popular amongst motor, cyclists in this cduritry is 'the carrying of an extra '.passenger sitting astride the back, iwheel, utilising the luggage carrier as an extra seat, i This may be an economical means of locomotion, but it is certainly a dangerous one, especially, when the passenger is a- : weighty one. The back axle in the 1 majority of motor cycles is not built to carry an extra 1501 b of weight right over the back spimjle., It. is not fair to thp makers ,of,ithe machines, even if the-. passenger- is prepared to take . the , risk of accident. If the practice is .not curtailed bad accidents are certain to .result, for it is asking too much of highly tempered steel to withstand for any length of time what some motorists expect the fin. back axle in their machines to carry. Another point is that they are overtaxing their tyres, asking them to carry loads over bumpy roads that they were never intended to. This is a matter for the raptor cycle importers and tyre manufacturers to take in hand, and they, should use their influence towards stamping out this bad habit. Another phase of the matter is the question of liability of the owner of the machine in the event of an accident to the passenger. Cyclists have on several instances in Europe been held responsible for injuries caused through carrying a passenger on the back step of a bicycle, and it was anly by the last mail that particulars came to hand from Dresden (Germany) in reference to an action by the guardians of a' youth who had sustained severe injuries through falling off a bicycle < step on which he was having a ride. The judges held that if the defendant—a lad of 16 years old—had .been old enough to realise the danger of the practice a verdict would have been given for the plaintiff. This case is certainly analagous to the man who carries a passenger sitting astride the back wheel of a motor cycle which was never built nor intended to carry the extra weight.