by The Fh
Page 16
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Drivers' hours limits useless
HAVING spent $1.4 million on research over the past 10 years, the American Bureau of Motor Carrier Safety has decided that the drivers' hours limits imposed in February, 1976, were after all correct. Further restrictions have been found to be economically unjustified on grounds of safety.
As Transport Topics, published by American Trucking Associations, succinctly put it: "The bureau cancelled its rulemaking proceeding based on 'the absence of a direct relationship between hours of service and a significant reduction in accidents, and on the economic impact of the proposed options on motor carrier operations and the nation's distribution system`." Ralph Nader, US public saviour mk 1, is furious. He screams about "unleashing giant tractor missiles driven by overworked, fatigued drivers popping bennies and amphetamines."
What will he say about commercial flights to the moon? It might even be worth learning the language to find out.
Return of the pink Pancras
BRITISH RAIL has planned an extensive cleaning-up operation, beginning with what Sir Peter Parker, chairman, has described as "the return of the pink Pancras."
This recalls the apocryphal story about the maiden run of the first diesel train from St Pancras. Sir Brian Robertson, who was chairman of the British Transport Commission, was present with a retinue of retainers to witness this historic event.
Would he like to hear the locomotive revved up, the regional chairman asked Sir Brian. He would. The regional chairman told the general manager who told the operating manager who told the traffic manager who told the station manager .. . When at last the message reached the driver he beamed and opened the throttle wide.
Up went a powerful jet of exhaust smoke and down came a century's accumulation of soot. This, it is said, was the origin of the Black and White Minstrels.
MANY PEOPLE who were questioned about traffic nuisance at 14 places in outer London thought that "big" lorries were the main cause of vibration, the Transport and Road Research Laboratory reports. Some said traffic caused "a fluttering sensation in the chest" or "tingling of the skin."
These are also the symptoms of falling in love, but nobody complains about that.
Breakout and keep your hands clean
MY SUSPICION that only mugs get their hands dirty is supported by Aplin Phillimore Associates, motor industry recruitment specialists. They say thatthis is the ideal time for those who want ot break out of the repair sector into sales, with the prospect of earning £10,000 to £12,000 a year, with a company car thrown in.
Hard-pressed fleet operators of cars and trucks are increasingly demanding detailed information about maintenance and repair costs and specifications before they order vehicles. This is not work for the traditional glib salesman but for the technician with a workshop background and exhaustive mechanical knowledge of the product. First, though, he must have a vehicle that he can sell without perjuring his soul.
Dealing with horses on the roadway
AS AN ANIMAL lover I always take great care not to frighten horses, but there are others who do not. The result is nearly 3,000 accidents a year involving horses and motor vehicles.
Mind you, having read a new AA leaflet, About Horses on the Highway, I am sure most of these animals are candidates for the psychiatrist's couch. They are liable to bolt at almost any sound, sight or movement, including the sound of cracking ice or water splashing from a puddle.
But "a totally silent approach to a horse from behind can be just as dangerous," says the AA in a warning to cyclists. When overtaking a horse the considerate cyclist will croon a lullaby. I do not recommend the Barbara Woodhouse technique of blowing up its nostrils, because this is difficult without falling off a bike.
Perhaps LT is not so bad
HAVING read of the condition of buses in San Francisco, the financial and commercial centre of the west coast of America, i shall not lightly criticise Lond+ Transport. Nearly half the Municipal Railway's 528 diesE engined buses have been laid with mechanical trouble.
Indeed, the fleet is so clappi out that the Muni, as it is calle has hired 60 General Motors vehicles between 23 and 27 years old, with an average mileage of 750,000 to their credit, from Los Angeles. The delivery by rail at a cost of $6( each — which is also the hire charge for six months — may suggest that the owner, Southern California Rapid Transit District, would not trut them to make the journey by road.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, "several . .. bore the scars of street warfare with other vehicles" but I presume that even they were better than thE local wrecks.
Meanwhile, in Britain, drive in the West Midlands refused take out eight 12-year-old bus' because, they said, the vehicIE lowered the quality of the fleei Passengers who had to walk might justifiably have asked: "What about the quality of 0111 feet?"
Carry.on alternating
HENRY and Eric Kolm, two American scientists who, according to Michael Walters the Daily Mail, might almost have been created by Walt Disney, are enthusiasts for pie electricity. This is derived freepiezo crystals, which the brothers are said to have used convert the heat and noise fro; a vehicle silencer into sufficier electricity to obviate the need alternators and generators.
The system is still far remov from commercial application and as Michael Walters says, "the Kolms are no businessmen." So carry on alternating.