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Poor Tail Light Causes Death
THOSE who are most bitterly against police
inspection of motor vehicles might have had faith in their opinion shaken if they had been present at a recent coroner's inquest in the Midlands, where a young motorcyclist had been killed in a collision at night. A lorry driver, thinking he had a puncture, stopped at the roadside to inspect his tyres; the motor cyclist ran into the rear of the vehicle and was thrown under an approaching bus. The police gave evidence that the rear light of the lorry was poor and well below regulation size; the off-side reflector had no glass and was red with rust inside whilst at the near side the reflector was missing. It was admitted by the driver that he never gave the reflectors a great deal of thought." The coroner described the lorry as "a death-trap." The jury's verdict was "accidental death" but some felt that, in the light of the evidence, it might well have been manslaughter.
Vauxhall £36m. Scheme Advances GREAT progress is being made with the expansion of the Vauxhall works, and the £36m. scheme is showing itself as a reality—not a futuristic idea.
The biggest advance has been made at Dunstable, where the Bedford truck factory is almost completed and vehicles are in active production there. So far, the combined efforts have required the shifting of Urn. tons of chalk. Already 750,000 sq. ft. of the factory are available and another 500,000 are due for completion by October. In addition, there will be a parts department covering a further 500,000 sq. ft., which will be started in March.
One of the acutest problems is the disposal of the chalk. Much of it has been used to increase the area of Luton Airport by 12 acres, 23 acres of marshy ground on the Luton Hoo estate have been reclaimed and much of a 32-acre farm in the Lea Valley has been raised by 20 ft. Yet with all this activity, and the removal of truck manufacture from Luton to Dunstable, production has been carried on without interruption. Some idea of the extent of the Dunstable works can be gained by realizing that the main shop has a length of over a third of a mile.
Mr. G. N. Vansittart, chairman of the company, said that Vauxhall were determined to go full steam ahead and had great faith in the future of the British motor industry and the export market.
A Dustless Floor Finish
A DEMONSTRATION, showing the quick-drying properties of "Can-Tile," the latest product of the Dohm Group of Companies, 167 Victoria Street, London, S.W.1, was held in London recently.
Primarily designed for use on concrete, stone and bituminous surfaces, this high-duty--liquid floor covering acts as a tough plastic film, both waterproof and frost proof, which adheres to the main floor and forms a barrier between this and the traffic over it.
Before Can-Tile can be employed, the surface to which it is being applied must be clean, and free from oil and grease. It can then be brushed or sprayed on, a gallon tin being sufficient to cover 30-40 sq. yd. Under normal conditions the new surface is touchdry in 15-25 min. but longer should he allowed in cold weather. Normally it is matt but can easily be polished and does not produce dust. The material is available in tile red, battle grey or white and costs 68s. per gallon tin or 67s. a gallon in 5-gal. drums.