Motoring Notes
Long Bonnets and their Death-roll
Ws. do not need to be told that there are far too many accidents caused by motor vehicles and that the manlier is increasing year by year. Nor are the reasons far to seek. There i' one chief cause and some minor. ones.
To take the latter first. 'There is the careless pedestrian or " jay-walker." Ile casually crosses a city thoroughfare, or he emerges suddenly from behind a stationary vehicle on a country road, or he decides for no apparent reason to ski) off the curb into the roadway. And when walking along a dark road at night nothing will induce him to lace the oncoming traffic by walking on the right-hand side of the road ; he either prefers to keep his presence concealed until a car is almost upon him, or else he does not realize that his dark coat is invisible against a tarred road unless actually in the beam of the headlight. Both cyclists and pedestrians often go three or more abreast, nor will they give way until the last possible moment, let the driver sound his horn never SO furiously.
The small child, too, whose parents have not taught him that the public highway is not a playground, is a constant source of danger both to himself and others. lie darts out of concealed turnings, generally with his head over his shoulder shouting to sonic small friend behind, or he lets the truck or pram containing wood or his sister run down into the highway without making any attempt to find out if the way is cleat.
Then dazzling headlights are the cause of many accidents ; ears are fitted with wrongly tilted lights so that they serve only to blind other drivers, leaving the road in shadow.
Many accidents, again, are due to bad manners. Everyone knows or ought to kiiow that it is bad manners for a motorist to try to overtake a vehicle going in the same direction on a bend in the road, and that on no account should he try to pass another car which is also overtaking, no matter what his horse-power or acceleration may be. But I firstly believe that the majority of accidents in this country are caused by nothing more nor less than what is generally called " swank.''
What is it but swank which makes a man buy cars of
greater and greater horse-power cannot be for the pleasure of going at enormous speeds, for there are few places in England where a high-powered ear can be given its full throttle. No, he simply waists to be able to say " My new ear did seventy-fsVo and a bit Over." Thete is another reason, too, why he likes' a highisinVered sat, ft will have a longer bonnet (its length scents to,vary with the horsepower) and a ear looks better-to our modern _eyes when it has a long bonnet. Then the modern driver likes to look as though he could drive perfectly in Whatever position he is, so lie lies down as thOugh half asleep in an armchair and, with one hand on
the wheel and a cigarette in his mouth, he lets his 59 lk.p. ear out on the first fairly clear bit of road he sees. Let us suppose he is a good driver and, to a certain extent, a.careful driver. His brakes are excellent arid his steering as perfect as modern science can make it, but—andhere is the fault of the whole trend of motor-body development—he cannot see the road for at least twenty yards in front of him.
The front of. the bonnet is very near the level of his eyes, and lying back in his driving position he cannot possibly see the road except at sonic considerable distance in front. Any- thing may come out of a side road, and, if it is low, he will not see it. A child's truck or even a dog may cause a fatal accident. The driver, having seen nothing, is not prepared for the shock when something hits his front wheels. So the steering wheel flies round in his hand and he either takes the far bank of the. road or Ile jams on the brakes and skids
Another sacrifice of safety for the sake of appearance is the width of the wings which arc now being fitted to cars. The driver- should be able to see the outside of either wing without altering his position as he sits at the wheel, but in the 1927 models he can rarely do so.
Undershing models, ultra-sports models, huge cars with a galaxy of high-power lamps, should be subjected to rigorous police tests before they are allowed on the road ; otherwise the makers will continue to pander to the ridiculous desire for length of bonnet and breadth of wing until a periscope attachment will be necessary to enable the drivers to sec
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