Passing Comments
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HOLIDAY contract tickets for a week's unlimited 'rail travel (and in some cases steamer travel) within specified areas have proved extremely popular, especially upon the Lancashire coast. The provisioa of a comparable series of outings for the usual fee of 10s. is hardly possible for the coach operator, but the coach and bus have an advantage in offering as destinations many places inaccessible by rail. In the circumstances many of the first-class contract holders have come to a fuller realization of the fact that the figure they pay would provide comfortable reserved seats for several road excursions, and they may be expected to act accordingly another year. AGOOD example of how small things may have serious consequences was brought to our notice recently. A dog began to worry a cat in the main street of a large provincial town. Immediately three people darted out from the opposite side of the road' to intervene. Oncoming vehicles, including a bus, were able to avoid a serious accident only with the greatest difficulty. The individuals concerned may be animal lovers, but that is no excuse for endangering their own lives and possibly those of others. The three were all young and well able to read the Highway Code, and one is inclined to wonder if this much-vaunted Code can have the effect expected.
THE Commercial Motor Users Association of I Australia is making good progress. During the year ended September 30 last, it gained 671 new members, but many thousands more are required to make it a really effective fighting force, as there are 33,000 commercial-motor users in Victoria alone. Efforts at restriction by the Government are the crder of the day there. At the commencement of the year in question, the Motor Omnibus Advisory Board' recommended the Minister to discontinue eight bus routes. This was quashed in response to the efforts of a deputation organized by the Association.
L'"Gexperience in road testing commercial vehicles shows that there is room for improyement in the accuracy of speedometers. More often than not the error is not in the instrument itself but in the drive gearing; in a few cases, however, the speed is indicated inaccurately although the mileage recorded agrees with the distance actually travelled. A difficulty obviously .arises when a variety of tyre equipment is offered, but provision should be made for fitting appropriate speedometer gearing, as is done when a non-standard axle ratio is incorporated. Inconsistent instrument readings are inexcusable. Great importance attaches to this matter in view of the present activity of the police. IN a speech at Halifax on September 3, Mr. A.I Gledhill, IP., emphasized the importance of revising the Ottawa Agreement, which, he said, is being exploited by American manufacturers to the detriment of several British industries, including the production of motor vehicles.. He stated that many American competitors no longer pay any tariff on goods they send into • this countrle They assemble a few parts in a Canadian factory and ship them over here duty free as "made in Canada," whilst, when we send our goods to Canada, we have to pay a 25 per cent. duty.
N the country districts the -liberty allowed to I farmers can be more serious to the general operator than is usually realized by those who do not come into contact with the problem. One of the difficulties relates to " taking in each other's washing "—or rather transport—which is permissible to a degree in agriculture. This is .stated in various areas to result in regular-carrying being lost by the outside operator, his activities thus tending to become spasmodic and, largely restricted to loads that might present difficulties to those possessing only limited resources in the matter of transport. It is suggested that the Act has encouraged co-operative efforts by farmers that were not considered previously.