MOTORDOM

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 912, 4 March 1930, Page 6

MOTORDOM

1 By-

HEADLIGHT

FIND CAUSES

ACCIDENT PREVENTION ANALYSIS WOULD HELP Though the increase in casualties in 1929 due to motor accidents may be blamed, vaguely, to the greater number of vehicles on ,the roads and the same average of carelessness, there may be other factors not revealed. A greater degree of driving skill, and more care by motor vehicle operators and pedestrians may reduce the number of accidents; but the overlooked factors may be outside the immediate control of both drivers and victims. An analysis of all accidents, in which location, time and contributing causes of every accident were collated, may yield information which could be used co prevent other smashes. There may bo road conditions, dangerous corners, wrongly cambered curves, blind spots or badly-lighted localities which are as much to blame as are the apparently careless operators or pedestrians. Information is Valuable This information all is in police records, but it is not being used to prevent other deaths nor to remove road perils which may exist. There may be a necessity for a more strict examination of vehicles on the road; for rew regulations cover dangerous practices which have arisen, or for enforced action by councils to correc: danger spots. There may be many possibilities for reducing the number of smashes during 1930, if the information is used. Mention of the increase in motor vehicles and official hand-wringing at carelessness is not very useful comment on a record of the year’s accidents. GRAFTON BRIDGE TRAFFIC MARKED IMPROVEMENT At the approaches of the Grafton Bridge-Karangah ape Koad-Symonds Street intersection, white lines have been laid in Symonds Street to make two lines of traffic. Travelling* from the city, cars wishing to turn across Grafton Bridge keep to the left of the line and may proceed straight through when the right-hand line, which is for traffic*, straight up Symonds Street, is held up by the traffic control officer. The same applies for traffic coming toward the city, and cars for Karangaliape Road by keeping to the left of the line and close to the kerb are enabled to continue and turn into Karangaliape Road without being obstructed by the traffic which is waiting for the signal to go straight through and down Symonds Street. A number of motorists have not yet become accustomed to the new system, and occasionally motorists, wishing to continue straight ahead get into the wrong line of traffic and consequently cause an obstruction. The Auckland Automobile Association makes an appeal to motorists to closely adhere to the marking of the road and assist in preventing delay and blockage in traffic.

A “Chauffeur” is a Stoker

French Words and English Meanings Every motorist knows the meaning of automobile, chauffeur, limousine, chassis, charabanc, and sedan. But lew know the evolution of these French terms that have been Anglicised. “W.F.J.” in the “Autocrat,” supplies the information as follows: “Automobile,” for instance, is an adjective, although now generally used as a noun. In correct French we should say, “Une voiture automobile,” or “Un vehicule automobile.” A STOKER “Chauffeur,” another common word, was totally misapplied long before it passed into the English language. A chauffeur is literally a stoker, and there is no other expression for the men who handle coal on French steamships, locomotives, and stationary boilers. The ordinary person can be excused for imagining that the first motor vehicles ran on coal, and that the men who drove them were naturally chauffeurs or stokers. “Limousine” Is another word which had departed far from its original use before it was added to the English language. In the Limousin district of France, shepherds wear a big woollen/ cloak, without sleeves, covering them from the neck to the ankles, and known as a limousine. A PASTORAL SOURCE When closed cars were built, the designer saw in them a vehicle which protected the passengers, just as the limousine protected the shepherd, and this type of motor-car became a “limousine.” A chassis is nothing more or less than a frame, and although in the English language we limit it to a motor-car frame, and, by extension, to all the mechanical .organs carried in that frame, in the original it may be a frame used by a gardener for bringing on early vegetables, a window frame, a photographic plate holder, or a printer’s forme. A picture frame, on the other hand, is not a chassis, but a cadre. As an expression, charabancs is much more often used in English than in French. The term is accurate, clear, and concise, indicating a char.

or vehicle, fitted with bancs, or benches. Used in English, the compound word char-a-banc accurately describes an open coach with transverse seats. “PAULINE” In Paris and its neighbourhood the charabanc is sometimes referred to as a “Pauline,” presumably because at one time M. Pauline did a big business in hiring out this type of vehicle for weddings and feasts. The French, and also the Italians, have' not been very happy in the use of the word “raid.” In their eyes it is a fast motor run, a point-to-point recordbreaking performance, in which there can be nothing aggressive or sinister. The American is equally unfortunate in his use of the word “sedan.” To the Yankee a sedan is a closed car with two doors on each side, and he fails to understand why a Frenchman should become nervous and excited when he hears the word. NUMBER PLATES IN U.S.A. The growing tendency in the United States of America to standardise the colour combinations of automobile licence plates is shown by the fact that in 1930, thirty-one States will change the colour schemes of their licence plates as against thirty-nine that changed them last year. There will be 16 different motifs in use in 1930, compared with 23 colour motifs used last year. Thirteen States and the District of Columbia will retain the 1929 colour combinations. As the States decide upon the most effective combination for visibility, it is thought they will dispense with the practice of making yearly changes in their licence plates.

PETROL PEPYS —HIS LOG

Up at five of the clock, it being the daye, at last, for our brave journey to the Sierras in our little gallop-coach, Guttle hastily, but with little heart for it. and load my pigeon into the chariot, and soon to galumphing over gx-een countryside prettie as anything I ever did see. Auid methinks never in our lives have wo been so gypsy-like and carefree so that we but laugh when the sorry wretch remember that she leave our luncheon on the postern porch and forget to tell the Scandihoovian neighbour-folk to feed the cat. At noontide to roadside lunch-shoppe, where we guttle of succulent hot dogges splashed with noble mustard. Then to coach and up sloping footehille ’til sundown. And whilst we did pitch our shelter gainst the nightfall, did seo as gloriferous a sunset as ever I have set mine eyes upon. Then we set up our magick radio device and list to brave strains of musick from city cabaret-places long after dark. So happily to bed.

PARK IN THE KITCHEN

NEW SMALL GERMAN CAR A motor-car that can be taken apart and parked in the kitchen has been invented by Engelbert Zachka, of Berlin. . Although slightly under regulation size, the car can carry two passengers. The parts, including the motor, are extremely light. The body is constructed of canvas. The garaging process of this little machine resembles the parts of a jig-saw puzzle. First, the body is detached and folded into a neat bundle then the chassis is dismounted. Each piece that makes, up the frame is numbered and fitted. Steering wheel and post, wheels, motor and body rods each are separate units. The vehicle has three wheels and can be assembled in a few minutes.

MORE HINTS

The Care of the Car REMOVING TIGHT NUTS One often encounters a nut which defies all efforts at removing it, when overhauling a car. By taking an ordinary open-ended spanner of correct size and heating it in a flame for some time, afterwards placing it on the nut for two or three minutes, it should be possible to remove the most obstinate nut, as the heating expands it. Do not use an expensive adjustable wrench as heat will render it unfit for use. REMOVING FORD CYLINDER HEADS Dismantle two old sparking plugs and discard the porcelain and electrodes. Place a bolt of suitable size head downward in the place generally occupied by the insulator, and replace the packing nut. Drill a small hole in the upper end of the bolt and insert therein a piece of steel rod to form a tommy bar. One of these tools inserted in the plug orifice for No. 3 and No. 3 cylinders will enable the head to be lifted off. Replacing the head is also facilitated /by taking two old studs of the right size, cutting off their heads and slotting their upper extremities to receive a screwdriver. If two such studs be screwed into the cylinder block they will enable the goldsize gasket and head to be accurately located, and should be rembved after ward by the aid of a screwdriver. REPLACING AWKWARDLY SITUATED SCREWS Small screws which are situated so that they do not permit easy access with the screwdriver, with the result that they drop out and get lost, should bo handled in the following manner: Coil a piece of thin copper wire lightly under the head of the screws, bend the wire to such a shape that the screw can be manoeuvred into position. Then get it started for two or three threads with the screwdriver and pull the wire away. The screw can then be tightened up securely.

Fifty picked youths between the ages of 16 and 19, will soon begin an educational course at the Chevrolet factory at Flint, Michigan. The new enterprise is a shop, operated under shop discipline and maintaining ghop hours and its purpose is t.o give young men first-hand mechanical and production training.

(AU CKLAN JD AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION). PROSECUTIONS FOR BY-LAWS Some years ago the Auckland Automobile Association felt that there were too many minor prosecutions in which motorists were being convicted for offences of which they were not guilty. This was no doubt due to the fact that it was extremely inconvenient to spend a whole morning in Court to defend a summons brought for the infringement of some minor breach, and thus many motorists paid their fines rather than suffer the inconvenience and loss of time. The Auckland Automobile Association, to overcome this trouble, instituted free legal defence and at the same time sought the co-operation of the authorities in introducing a system whereby first offenders received a warning.

This action has improved the relations between the various traffic inspectors and the travelling public, and today the number of minor prosecutions has decreased very considerably. The position is still far from being entirely satisfactory in some of the outside centres where the same spirit of co-operation as exists in the cities is not apparent. The A.A.A. considers that if a motorist is quietly warned that he has committed a breach he will appreciate the warning and will in future be more amenable to discipline than if he were prosecuted without anv indication that he had offended. The association has been assisted throughout the country by representations which have been made to local authorities from the various chambers of commerce.