MOTORING
The " Automatic Speed Limit"— That somewhat weatherbeaten suggestion, the automatic control of engine-speed, was brought up again the other day before the House of Lords Select Committee on the preven- tion of road accidents, this time by the Secretary of the Pedestrians Association, who said that he thought the root cause of accidents was speed. Theoretically speaking, of course, he was right. So long as objects are not stationary there will always be the risk of collision between them and other stationary or moving objects, and nobody can deny that the risk increases with the rate of speed. It is one of those arguments which are irrefutable but destructive. Its logical conclusion is cessation of all traffic.
—And the Human Control Obviously Mr. Foley did not mean quite that, but however academically considered, I do not think his suggestion is any more practical today than were those of his predecessors, the last of whom gave evidence before this very committee a few months ago. It sounds feasible enough to fit existing engines with a device that automatically prevents the car from being driven at more than a given speed, but the results are very much in doubt. As reported in The Times, Mr. Foley appears to advocate the adoption of such a device for use in restricted areas only, which implies that it would have to be put into action by the driver. This would presumably involve the fitting of some sort of signal at both ends of the car to show the police that the car's speed was under mechanical control and the law being obeyed, a gadget which could be tampered with. Failing this, I suppose the only check on the use of the control would be police examination on the spot, a notion that conjures up appalling pictures of congestion, extra police and general public inconvenience.
Checking the Traffic. Flow . .
-I- -certainly agree that, under existing conditions, the 3o-mile limit in built-up areas is quite. high. enough, though I am still not- convinced that in the main any speed limit is effective. The Pedestrians Association urged the reduction of the limit to 25 miles an hour on the grounds that this would give " a much better margin of safety," and the imposition of a maximum limit in the open. - The difference between 25 and 3o miles an hour is very small in practice, though it would probably be enough to increase traffic-congestion and slow down the even flow, and I think the Association's hopes are built upon very slender foundations. The re-adoption of a limit in the open would mean the return- of the police-- trap and its attendant anomalies and ignominies.
The New Humber "Snipe" I was a good deal interested in the latest Humber " now called the Imperial, which I had out, on- trial a short time ago, mainly because it has several of the special features or qualities that give the modem American car its un- doubted popularity. It has a very powerful engine, a high cruising speed, silence of running, marked flexibility and rapid acceleration. The front wheels are independently sprung on the " Evenkeel " system, which certainly con- tributes really smooth running at all speeds over the worst sort of surfaces likely to be met with on any road where a car can be driven as opposed to being coaxed and, unlike some independent systems, gives definitely improved road- holding on bends.
Thus far- it rivals most of the Americans I have tried this year, beating some of them handsomely. Its coach- Work, which is of course quite different in construction (the American type of steel body is a national product and, so far as I know, is not yet imitated anywhere), is as roomy as most of theirs, at least as comfortable, certainly having better " visibility " for driver and passengers. The luggage- boot is excellent, the general equipment complete. It costs £495.
High-Efficiency British Engines The six-cylinder engine, with a bore and stroke of 85 by 120, has a cubic content of four litres, taxed at £20 5s. and rated at 28 h.p. It is a plain unit, with side valves, but an idea of its efficiency can be gained from the weight of the saloon, which is no less than 39 cwt. I admire the Humber for its performance but, as usual, I mourn the waste of power due to the British deference to weight. If a few hundredweight could be taken off the Snipe it would almost certainly be the liveliest car of its size and type in the world; and the same can be said of more than one other first-class British car I know and have driven. ]C am quite convinced that we make the most efficient engines in the world, and that sooner or later, when we learn or choose to build lighter chassis, we shall be at the head of the industry at all points. Less than a day's driving of cars like this Humber is enough to prove that. RN. 13 2—Landes Whether the Landes pinewoods rank in fact as the greatest forest in Europe is no matter. They are big enough to keep you half a day in the crossing of them by the main road, being about too miles long and about 4o wide, big enough for you to wander for hours without meeting anybody else either on foot or awheel. What does matter is that there are no woods like them anywhere else, that between their scattered glades and among their shallow lakes are little places you are not likely to have heard of, and, most important of all, that the main road, number RN.i32,- from Bordeaux to Bayonne, is as good a _place from which to see them at their best as any sandy lane lost among their endless armies. Though you should go exploring the woods that here and there fringe the Bay of Biscay shore, you need not do so. RN.i32 shows you the best of it.
A Windless Road When all is said and when you have got there from the north, there is nothing to see for the outward eye but leagues of pine-trees. It all depends upon how those incomparable trees strike you. If they are just pines, you find a superb road running north and south through an unbroken avenue which has the unique merit of being windless. It takes the best part of a winter Biscay gate to penetrate those square miles of massed trunks. Almost you might say that here is the only centrally heated highway in the world. If pines are among the three loveliest trees that grow, as I happen to think they are, you find yourself on the edge of a ne* adventure. It is not only their colour, deep purples and greens, red-hrowns and peacock blues, the matchless smell they send up like incense under the noonday sun that take you, by the throat, but their impenetrability: They are like the forests of the Middle Ages, deep as the ocean and as full of the unknown. They might conceal anything in their dark depths, and you know it well as you drive down that remarkable road.
-You should naturally go there either now or after the summer holidays. RN.r32 carries the Arcachon-Biarritz beach traffic. It is alone again when it is too cold to bathe. jomq PRIOLEAU.
[Note.—Readers' requests for advice from our Motoring Correspondent on the choice of new cars should be accompanied by a stamped and addressed envelope. The highest price payable must be given, as well as the type of body.required. No, advice can be given on the purchase, sale or exchange of used cars.]
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