Controlled Competition
Page 29
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Y next year, commercial vehicle rallies will have become established events in the road transport calendar. Their growth must, however, be properly controlled and their purpose must be clearly apprehended. The interests of operators and drivers require to be protected and those who take part must be assured that the standard of the competitions will justify the expenditure of time and money.
For these reasons, the appointment of a national controlling body, in which the operators' associations and the trade unions should be represented, is necessary. Its functions would be to prescribe precisely the tests to be used in the eliminating rounds and the final contest of the Lorry Driver of the Year Competition; to lay down a standard system of marking; to ensure that sites selected for tests were suitable, and to see that the arrangements for the accommodation and information of competitors and spectators were satisfactory.
It would also be responsible for encouraging the inauguration of events in parts of the country not already covered and for stimulating public interest in the competition. No eliminating round could, of course, be held without the approval of the central body, which would make sure that there was no overlapping between centres and that the local sponsors were competent.
Controversy Over Time The basic purpose of the Lorry Driver of the Year Competition is to promote road safety by encouraging a high standard of skill in everyday driving and in those aspects of vehicle maintenance that bear upon safety. The value of the time element in manoeuvring tests is a matter of controversy and this year it has been reduced.
Clearly, the primary object would be defeated by encouraging driving techniques more appropriate to the racing circuit than to the public highway. On the other hand, dexterity and judgment are not the only ingredients of efficiency: speed is of practical importance, particularly in manceuvres that affect other traffic.
A fair compromise might be reached by fixing a time limit for each test, based on the capabilities of an average experienced driver. No advantage would be gained by improving on that time, but marks would be lost for exceeding it.
Tests should be designed to extract the maximum amount of skill in the shortest possible time. No manoeuvre should take a competent driver more than 21 minutes to complete, otherwise, with a large field of competitors, proceedings would become unnecessarily long and tedious_ The space allowed in each test must be appropriate to the size of the vehicle. In this connection, the case of the rigid eight-wheeler needs reconsideration. At present, all vehicles of this type are included in one group (E). which gives the short-wheelbase tipper an unfair advantage over the normal type.
_ Unfair Handicap The wheelbase of an eight-wheeler can vary by as much as 9 ft. and the frame length behind the driver by some 121 ft., according to whether the lorry is a tipper or a normal load carrier. The unfairness of trying to fit both ends of the scale into a common test is obvious. The problem might perhaps be overcome by transferring shortwheelbase eight-wheelers to Group D, which is at present for fourand six-wheelers over 22 ft. long.
Marking must be uniform in method and standard, and must be easily understood by competitors. It must also be capable of speedy application without recourse to higher mathematics. The rapidity with which marks and places were calculated at Portsmouth was a credit to the organizers, and the arrangements for conveying the information to the competitors and the public were a lesson to anyone who is concerned with the, promotion of rallies.
It is difficult to understand why goods-vehicle drivers should have been singled out for annual awards for skill. The promotion of safety is even more important among drivers who have in their hands the lives of passengers. It is to be hoped that the scope of the competition will next year be widened to include coach and bus drivers.