MOTORING

Gisborne Times, Volume LXV, Issue 10312, 22 January 1927, Page 10

MOTORING

EIGHT QUESTIONS ASKED. CAN YOU ANSWEB THEM? With 2000 new •motorists taking the road each week, the problem of the motoring beginner is proving increasingly serious in England. To lessen the dangers such motorists constitute to other drivers, the “Daily Mail” London? suggests an examination for tyro drivers, and that driving licenses should only be issued to candidates capable of passing the examination. The questions are:Can you operate the controls, hand and foot brake, dutch and gear lever, horn and ignition switch automatically—that is, without having to fumble,' look at, or grope for them ? Can you manoeuvre the car accurately in reverse? Can you change from a high gear to a low gear easily? I>o you know the recognised code of police traffic signals? Do you know the recognised rules of the" road? Clan you drive round corners and blind bends in the correct, that is, the safe, way? Have you a knowledge of the etiquette of the road? Do you know howto operate the warning hooter correctly ? Have you learned how to judge speed and the distance in which your car can he pulled up at any given speed? Do you understand the meanings of the various roadside warning signs? .

THE NEW YEAR. MOTORING BESOLUT!ONS. It is usual at this time of tlu> year to make good resolutions. Unfortunately, however, the ordinary New Year resolution has faded to a misty memory by the following evening. The year 1926 has witnessed a remarkable development of motoring in New Zealand. There has been an unprecedented increase in the number of motor vehicles on the roads; the results of the main highways scheme have become more and more tangible in the form of permanent roads; and last, but by no means least, there has been a steady growth- in the proportion of British-built ears in use. With this great increase in wheeled traffic comes the necessity for at least one resolution tvhich every motorist should make and keep throughout the whole of 1927—t0 drive safely and to give due consideration to the hazards of the road. The non-motor-ing critic frequently declares that motorists arc wilfully careless; but this is not so. No sane man would wilfully risk his life, the lives of Iris passengers and possibly heavy financial loss by deliberately taking an unnecessary "risk. The majority of accidents arise from failure to appreciate the great care which must be exercised on strange roads, on railway crossings and in maintaining . the car in a state of mechanical efficiency as regards brakes in particular. Carelessness at the wheel can onlv lead to disaster. The “golden rule” for every driver is never to drive at a speed higher than that from which the car can he brought to a standstill in the distance ahead that is known to be clear. Universal observation- of this

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1-ilk' is the only way to a condition of absolute safety under the. circumstances. Jt should, therefore, be every motorist’s New ear resolution to study the art of driving, in every aspect and at all available opportunities' to drive with respect for the rights of other users of the road and always to hear in mind the “golden - rule” mentioned above. THE OTHER FELLOW. Who is it always hogs the road? The other fellow. Who drives as though he had a “load”? The other fellow. "Who is it motorists declareFor others’ lives seems not to care, And is a menace everywhere ? The other fellow. Who turns the corners much too fast? - Who never waits to let us pass? The other fellow. Who is it of the motor throng, Day in and out and all year long, I n -‘every ease, is in the wrong ? ' The other fellow. Who causes all the accidents? Who ought to hf.Ve much better sense? The other fellow. Who should the traffic rules obey Or have his license stripped away. Be sent to gaol and made to stay ? The other fellow. Who is an idiot and a fool ? The other fellow. Who violates the simplest rule? The other fellow. Yet when you find a twisted frame, And stop;' to ask who caused the same,' Who does the other fellow blame? The other fellow.