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LEAVES FROM THE INSPECTOR'S NOTEBOOK.

31st August 1920
Page 9
Page 9, 31st August 1920 — LEAVES FROM THE INSPECTOR'S NOTEBOOK.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Motor Coach Seating Accommodation. Driver-proof Machines.

MUCH OF THE attention of the industrialvehicle world at -the present time is still concentrated on the char-ii-bancs, although •'the Daily Mail, with its exceptional capacity for adopting a new hobby every other day, has substituted seaside sand castles for the " juggernauts" of the road.

There is maintained, amongst the more sober thinkers of the country, a considerable amount of interest in the public service vehicle and in particular the char-à-barscs—or, to giveiit its new name, "the motor coach." The recent outcry as to the behaviour of joy-riding char-li-bancs parties has, undoubtedly, had a useful effect upon traffic of this class, and there is .a noticeably less amount of bad behaviour • on the roads, although insome of the rougher districts there is still room for improvement. On the whole, the drivers are showing a stricter regard for the amenities of road traffic and for the speed limits imposed by law. The public will, undoubtedly, see to it that no harshly repressive legislation be introduced which shall have the tendency to restrict the proper development of this very useful and popular class of traffic.

Nevertheless, there will be certain changes that will, undoubtedly, come about in the near future from a constructional point of view and, in particular, with regard to the seating. There is little doubein the writer's mind that public opinion and, in all probability, official restriction, will insist that the driver shall be seated alone and away from dis traction on the part of passengers. Then, again, there is, undoubtedly, a very considerable demand on the part of the public for less uncomfortable seating. Whilst the maximum width remains at 7 ft. 6 ins.., five in a row is far too many for comfort on a long journey, and it will not be surprising if we see, in the near future, a much larger number of machines in which provision has only been made for four in a row, and each of those with a bucket seat. .

And, finally, there is the question of the contemplated new legislation with regard to motor-vehicle taxation. An examination of the,proposed schedule shows that it is intended to impose a certain tax,a-, tion for seating capacities not in excess. of certain numbers. For instance, for passengee-..accomnnoda, Lion up to 26, a tax will be payable -of lee in the , Metropolitan Police Area, and for country districts; and for a seating capacity over 26 but not more than 32 a tax of 72 in the Metropolitan Area and £60 for country districts.

It appears obvious, therefore; that the owner, faced with such duties, will see:to it that his bodies accommodate up to the maximum allowed by the particular tax imposed on his class of machine. That means to say that standard. chars-à-banes are likely in the future--to be called for with accommodation of 26 or 32 as the ease may be,without the driver; and

• a moment's consideration will. show that such stipulation will call for very considerable modification of seating accommodation plans.

Driver-proof Machines.

Recently, I wrote at some length on the paramount importance of the maintenance consideration for users. I tried to point out that the condition§ of labour and cost generally would, increasingly, have the effect of making it more and more necessary for owners and prospective purchasers to consider, at the time of their placing an order, whether the machine they were acquiring would cost much or little to maintain. So very definite has this aspect become that the relative first cost of a machine is of much less account:

I would now like to 'devote a few lines to emphasizing another point which has gained increasing importance, on account of the new industrial circumstances, which is that it is most-desirable for users to decide on-. the selection of a machine4or which as free a market as possible exists in respect of'drivers. It is a fact, and those who are users will recognize it, that there are certain classes of machines in existence which have distinctive features and characteristies that call for special management and control. Perhaps these features. are not outstandingly different, but it is surprising how they operate, when one comes to endeavour to transfer a'driyer who is acnustornecl to a machine that is quiteidevoid of unusual characteristics to one of these others.

Discussing this point with some of the owners of mixed fleets recently, the writer was struck with the by no means unusual complaint that 'they found it extremely difficult to finddrivers for certain machines which were -named as ,compared with drivers for others. This is quite a point which has, perhaps,. net been considered a.s fully as it might have been either by designers who have allowed themselves to be carried away with the enthusiasni for improvement as they saw ,it, or by owners who light-heartedly have held that one heavy vehicle is much the same as another. There is no need to mention the namesof individual machines in this connection and, indeed, it would be invidious to do so, but no doubt my readers will, upon reflection, have no difficulty in identifying instances for themselves that will serve to illustrate the point.

There is the lesson to be learned, too, by all those who are contemplating the revision of existing models or the design of new' ones, that, whil, it is quite easy to depart from standard or from -what is, !by now, fairly well accepted-practice, difficulties like this must be foreseen, as they will undoubtedly have a bearing to an increasing extent on the sales of new. machines. The tendency all round is to standardize fleets wherever possible, and arising front that, owners and users alike arn hearing in mind the necessity of standardizing machines for which. they have no difficulty, in finding adequate supplies of the right kind of drivers.

It has alwayS been a point of interest with the writer, who, as it happens, can claim to have had • considerable experience also as a designer, that, we have long passed: the days when we can, without -compunction, launch' new models with very distinctive and outstanding features. It is, as a matter of. fact, already a far more diffi,cult task to sell a vehicle which does not correspond on general lines to accepted practice than it Is to dispose of one which has, for instance, the normal arrangementof engine, gearbox, back • aide bonnet, and so on. Only when the departure-from accepted practice has outstanding advantages beyond cavil is there a justification for possiblefreakishness.. Such a course inevitably brings in its ':rain increas-ing difficulties of sale, and, as I have endeavoured to point out above, the possibility of difficulties.in connection with adequate supplies -of the most useful type of driver.

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