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OPINIONS FROM OTHERS.

23rd November 1926
Page 67
Page 67, 23rd November 1926 — OPINIONS FROM OTHERS.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

The Editor invites correspondence on all subjects connected with the use. of commercial motors. Letters should be on one side of the paper only and typewritten by preference. The right of abbreviation is reserved, and no responsibility for views"

exPressed is accepted.

The Pneutnatic-tyred London Bus.

The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.

[2531] Sir,—Many of your readers will, no doubt,. have been interested to read an announcement to the effect that a motor omnibus fitted with four-wheel brakes and with pneumatic tyres has been licensed to ply for hire on the London streets.

Some time ago I imported into this country some examples of the Fageol "safety coach," which I thought then, and think now, is the most advanced example ofreally modern heavy-car design in the world. In certain parts of America this coach successfully competes with railways for passenger traffic, even over long-distance journeys, and it is only able to do this by reason of its low centre of gravity, its big pneumatic tyres and its hydraulic four-wheel braking.

I was not allowed to put the Fageol "safety coach" on the London streets to ply for hire as a motor omnibus because of these very features which contribute directly to the safety of the public and also to its comfort, to say nothing of reducing wear and tear on roads. Now that the Scotland Yard authorities have at last recognized that pneumatic tyres and front-wheel brakes are permissible, if not even desirable, it is, perhaps, not too much to hope that they will go a little farther and insist upon all industrial vehicles, whether passenger-carrying or not, being built with a greater regard to safety.

In my opinion it is ridiculous that so many heavy vehicles to-day should be built so high off the ground. The minimum ground clearance insisted upon is needlessly high. I suppose the idea is that a motorbus should be capable of going over a man lying on the street without harming him, but it is almost impossible

to imagine conditions in which this would really be,a factor of safety at all. In the vast majority of cases the victim is damaged, not because he is run over, but because he is knocked down. The heavy vehicle with the lowest centre of gravity will clearly be the most controllable and most stable, and, therefore, other things being equal, it will be less liable to figure in accidents.

With regard to pneumatic tyres, it is certainly to be hoped that in the near future the London authorities will not only allow them, but will insist upon them, by this means saving ratepayers many millions of pounds a year. What is done in London will naturally set the fashion for the rest of the country, and we may then come to that long-waited time when the pneumatic tyre is compulsory for all vehicles capable of exceeding, say, 10 miles an hour.—Yours faithfully, London. WARWICK WRIGHT.

The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.

• [25321 Sir,—As a regular and interested reader & your valuable paper, I would like to point out what I consider an error in an article entitled "Four-wheel Brakes on London Buses." That article states that it was a Dennis bus which was first permitted to operate in London on pneumatic tyres. In March, 1923, a Mr. C. W. Dunford, of Barnet, after considerable trouble, got a Fiat 15-ter. long-wheelbase type, with pneumatic tyres all round (twins On rear) and a saloon body built by Messrs. St-radian and Brown, passed by Scotland Yard for use on the streets of the Metropolis. A second vehicle was passed in /tine, 1923, a third bus being a Dennis 50ewt. type with a single-decker body built by Christopher Dobson and Co., Ltd. which was licensed by Scotland Yard in November, 1924.—Yours faithfully,

New Barnet, F. R. MActax.

Tags

Organisations: Scotland Yard
People: WARWICK WRIGHT
Locations: London

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