MOTORING
Road Problems in the Lords If the reply given last week by Lord Erne, Lord in Waiting, to the criticisms of the House of Lords on existing road conditions reflects the attitude of the Ministry of Transport, I imagine that we can abandon all hope of the adoption of any constructive policy before it is much too late. With singular unanimity the speakers in the debate condemned the Ministry's preference for reconstruction to the making of new roads, and Lord Cottenham, following up his attack on _Scotland Yard, methods of training " courtesy cops " which he had delivered earlier as a witness before the Select Coinmittee on the Prevention of Road Accidents, condemned the build of the road itself as one of the chief causes of the mounting tale of disaster.
An interesting point, of his speech was, according to The Times report, his statement that it was common gossip that the-road patrols had been told not to criticise road defects when reporting an accident—presumably because the public might take action against the road authorities responsible. That certainly opens up a new field of interminable legis- lation which might, in the end, have the desired effect of accelerating the scientific rebuilding of the highway.
The Dfficial Reply LOrd Eltisley said that the extension of the highway system since 1925 amounted to 2 per cent., while the traffic on them had more than doubled in the same time ; reminded the House that of the £88,000,000 collected from road users in 1937 only £22,000,000 had been returned to improve the roads ; and that the only result of the great Five-Year £100,000,000 plan elaborated nearly four . years ago was the spending of £23,000,000. Lord Howe said that while 28o miles of roads have been built in this country in the last seven years, Germany was building at the rate of 650 miles a year (the ,two cases are not quite on all fours) and in a peroration which was received with _cheers charged the Minister with wasting or mis-spending money.
Lord Erne's reply must have disappointed' the House. He said everybody admired the -German roads 'NA that it was not safe to assume that what had been done-in Germany could and should be adopted in this country (a " safe " answer to make, however) ; that the proposal for motor- roads " must be examined by reference to concrete pro- posals " ; that the financial aspect presented very great difficulties (unspecified), but even if they were overcome there would be no justification for slackening 'effortS on existing train roads. While active progress was being made with the Bressey trunk road schemes, other road schemes, held up by the recent crisis, were, he was assured, being actively considered, Courtesy Methods in Lancashire I make no excuse for reporting all this at length. It was the reply to the question every road-user in this country has been asking for several years. Meanwhile it is cheering to read of the success achieved by the new Lancashire courtesy mobile police. Between April and September the reduction in accidents averaged 46 per cent. in Lancashire as against 5 per cent. in-the res.( of the country, 'and on one very bad stretch of road between Liverpool and Preston there has been a 73 per cent. reduction. Such results are no pretext for continuing the patchwork system and -postponing the building of the essential relief motor-roads, but they are some poor solace for those who regard the whole problem as one of national urgency—which it is The New .28 Austin As a rule I do not write about any but owner-driver cars, but the 28-11:p. 'Austin limousine, on the trial I had of it the other day, displayed such unexpected features and qualities that I am obliged—willingly enough—to include it in my annual car-review for The Spectator. - It is not like any -other chauffeur-driven car I have ever tried. The body is of the conventional design, a comfortable, roomy five-seater, with two occasional flap-seats, plenty of leg-room and elbow- room, but, at the price, the performance and general behaviour, are quite exceptional. It showed such liveliness that before I had covered a dozen miles I found myself wishing that it was something else. I was told it weighed 45 cwt. and I reflected with the regret of the unreasonable how well it would show up if three-quarters or even half a ton were lifted from it ; if, in fact, it were not a limousine.
Its Lively Behaviour It is the only body they make and it costs £595, which is not much for this type, particularly when it has an engine with a brake horsepower of 90 at only 3,200 revolutions. I believe it is, capable of over 7o miles an hour ; I know that on the day of the' Celebrated gale it made no bones about cruising at 66, picking up well and accelerating as fast as anyone would ,want a 45-cvit. limousine to do it The gear- change is light and easy, the 'springing struck me as excellent (sitting in the backseat of a car measuring over 17 feet) and the upholstery as well out of the ordinary in that the edge of thesushion came, outto the knees of a tall passenger. It climbed fast and steadily ; ' it had a very good lock ; it made very little noise ; it did its job properly; and it looked half its weight and size.
Routs Green I have very little reason to believe that this is its real name, chiefly because I am by no means sure exactly where it is. It is a bend in a road high up on the northern flank of the Chilterns, and as difficult to find twice as any given point in tl-o3e elusive hills. Routs Green must do, for want , of a closer identification, because there is a place of that name close to the bend I mean. The last time I went to look for it, no more than a month ago, I made sure it was Looseley Row—until I got there. The sight of one 'bus was more than enough to put me right. When I first came to Routs Green (let us call it) a 'bus would have been as unreal as a high-wheeled dog-cart and much more startling.
"Round the Cape of a Sudden . . . "
You come to it from the vague direction of Henley, passing by Skirmett and Fingest, Stokenchurch, and I rather think Radnage. On all sides you are hemmed in by villadom, all of it mercifully invisible. There arc lanes through• the incomparable beeches, a hill or two, an unexpected village green, farmhouses and more woods : and then, sudden as the sea round Browning's cape, that view over the wet . levels round Thame, and the valley. curving down at your feet to end abruptly in the brick and stone of Princes . Risborough. The hillsides are thickly grown with beech and chestnut—last month, for a flying' week, they were a tapestry of crimson and lemon and copper—and their delicate outline carries your eye downwards and outwards to the grey plain where you might just conceivably catch a hint of Brill's ambitious hump: - - - It may or .may not be.Rotits Green: If you:have the trick . of the Chilterns you will know_ it -does not matter in the least. The hills :are full of places you find onee and once only—as happens in all- hill ranges' and in -all- woods. If you fail to find this one you will certainly stumble across another. Blowy westerly weather is the time to climb up into the Chilterns, when the haze over the Buckinghamshire fields is dissolved and you-can see things as they are.
= _ - r - JOHN 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 purchases sale or exchange of used cars.]
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