ROAD MANNERS

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 23, 19 April 1927, Page 11

ROAD MANNERS

COLONIALS ARE DISCOURTEOUS “Comparisons are always odious, but I am compelled to say that most of the English motorists are 50 per cent, more courteous on the road than their Dominion brethren,” writes a tourist who recently returned from a visit to England. “The London 'bus driver,” he said, “is. in my opinion, the most courteous person on the road that I have ever met. He is quick to giv< way to a following car when it is sat* to pass him, but if it is not, he quickl> lets you know. When there is plent\ of room for you to pass, and no danger attaches to it, he draws to the side of the road and signals you to come on. Perhaps this is brought about by the strict supervision his company keep on him when he is driving, but if every motorist were like him, motoring would be a hundred times more pleasant.

“He stands out in strong contrast to the ’bus driver in Sydney, who in my opinion is a most discourteous user of the road. As a rule he never gives you any signals, and when in passing his huge and ungainly conveyance you run into danger or difficulty, he laughs sarcastically, and more often than not makes some caustic comment. He mostly monopolises the centre of the road, and is generally a nuisance and an annoyance to every motorist. He reminds me forcibly of the English char-a-banc driver. He has the same objectionable traits, and is even more of a nuisance than the Sydney ’busman. It was not long before I added my voice to the chorus of denunciation.

Contending if more road courtesy Is shown accidents will decrease, the Automobile Association of England had started a vigorous campaign of better road manners. They have got the idea from the 'buses which are wonderfully free from accidents. This the automobile association rightly attributes to the drivers’ courtesy. They are advertising the matter widely, and making efforts to get legislation passed to make bad-mannered motorists liable to a fine.