LOOSE LEAVES I
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IT is of the utmost portance that our roads should be made to give the maximum freedom from danger in respect of skidding. Much can be done by reducing road camber,, banking bends and increasing their radii, but, naturally, surfaces require the most consideration.
A well-known engineer and surveyor, writing in "British Roads," states that if highways are to be made safe under all weather conditions, the amount of binder should be halved and the quantity of stone chipping s doubled or trebled. This, of course, applies particularly to surfacing with bituminous materials.
FIGURES are often misleading when we are not told all the facts which lie behind them. On learning that there has been an increase in the past 12 months of only about 8 per cent. in the total number of motor-passenger vehicle,s (including motorbuses, coaches, taxis, private cars, etc.) that are registered in Austria, One might easily be led to believe that travel by road in that country is not B18
developing to any great extent. Actually, this is not the case at all, and inter-town coach services are becoming ex
ceedingly popular. The explanation is thought to be that an increasing number of private-ear owners is taking to the practice of laying up cars in the winter months to avoid the payment of tax, and a further explanation is that numbers of the higher-powered and older motorcars are being converted into goods-carrying vehicles.
WHILE at Birmingham some short time ago we
encountered Mr. Henry Garner, of Garner Motors, Ltd., and although his height is 6 ft. 31 ins. we found to our amusement that he was driving an Austin Seven. He told us that he does not get into this but that he "puts it on," and it certainly appears to fit him like a glove. The small car is used between his house and the Garner works, but he employs a six-cylinder Austin for' long distances. Mr. Garner is an ardent advocate of the conservation of road space. IN the course of a conversation with Mr, Sydney S. Guy regarding his new four-wheeled-bus chassis, whieh is described elsewhere in this issue, he emphasized that the production of this model is in no way to be regarded as a sign that he i,s diminishing his 'campaign for the six-wheeler.
Mr. Guy believes that the future will see a great increase in the number of vehicles utilizing this principle. A good market, however, exists for the double-saloon four-wheeler, and it is not intended that potential users of these vehicles should continue to be neglected by his company.
AS showing the congested condition of some of our main roads,we were talking recently with a night watchman at a works on the Slough Trading Estate. He told us that he and many others of his fellow workers hardly dare to cycle to and from 'work along the Slough-Maidenhead road. He himself, although cycling close to the near side, was thrown off his machine only a few nights ago and was unconscious for some hours, whilst a friend of his, in similar circumstances, was tossed over a low-built brick wall—fortunately without very serious results beyond the smashing of his cycle. During week-ends this road is practically • a continuous stream of traffic.
IT is a credit to the training and testing establish ment of the London General Omnibus Co., Ltd., that its drivers covered a total of 173,000,000 miles during 1928 without a fatal accident for which they could be held responsible. This is a truly remarkable record and one which affords still further proof of our assertion that there is no better driver in the world than the man at the wheel of the London bus.
THE Sunbeam six-wheeler is going on apace anti the first batch of 24 is in production. Mr. Rose, the designer, tells us that they are creating an excellent impression. Some notes regarding minor alterations which have been effected in the design will be found elsewhere. The i:ngine, in particular, as behoves a sunbeam product, is a fine piece of engineering and runs with. remarkable silence.