Passing Comments
Page 28
Page 29
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
A Way of Learning AT an ambition to become
to Drive that Proved al bus driver should be
Expensive . . . . realized in an orthodox manner was demonstrated in a recent case at the Newcastle police court. A miner was found guilty of taking a bus without the owner's consent, driving it carelessly and without a licence or insurance policy. The defendant pleaded guilty and said that he had borrowed the bus in the hope of learning to drive it, as he wanted to obtain a job as a bus driver. This Short demonstration as to the problems of driving a heavy vehicle cost him, 26 16s.
Will Cyclists Use THE mentality of the average
Their Own Special 1, cyclist is a difficult thing to Tracks comprehend. He objects to
the introduction of measures aimed at securing his safety on the road and giVes expression to his distaste by ignoring -them. Such is the conclusion we have formed after. noting the little use made of some special cycle tracks on arterial roads. Recently, at a time when many factories were emptying their workers on to the road, we observed that, among the many cyclists, a bigger" percentage preferred the roads carrying a heavy burden of mixed traffic to the isolated paths offering safe and unobstructed travel. Plea for Increase A STRONG plea for the of Vehicle Sales rlk strengthening of the over
Abroad seas trade in motor vehicles has
been issued by the Institute of Export, which points out that increased motoring necessitates increased imports of fuel, and more vehicles must be exported to improve the trade balance. Every maker, however content with his hold on the home market, should consolidate his position by selling abroad.
Road Over the RailTHE Bill promoted jointly by way -The Building A the London and Middlesex
Cost • . County Councils to authorize the construction of a new western exit from London, is still attracting much attention, and more than a dozen petitions have been presented against it. The chief engineer of the L.C.C. has -stated that if the new road were Made over the railway, it could be done on a low-level scheme, crossing North End and Glyn Roads on the level, or on a high-level system to carry the thoroughfare on viaducts over them. Including compensation, the former scheme would cost 22,215,600, and the latter 21,724,800, against 2840,000 ,for,Ahe ordinary Toad.. It is obvious that the road-oyeOherailS -scheme is receiving some consideration, ANCILLARY users who are at times compelled to sup, plement their fleet with hired
lorries, often employ the type of haulier who works at cut rates, keeps his vehicle in a state of disrepair, chances falling foul of the vehicle examiners and generally runs his business on an uneconomic basis. This practice not only encourages a class that damages the road-transport industry as a whole, but also brings the hirer himself into disrepute.
Jeopardizing a Good Name to Save Ha'pence . . .
Another Good RECENTLY , we overheard a Example of Railway well-known railway counsel
Rate-cutting. . . complaining of the high rates charged for road transport. The conversation took place out of court, and it appeared that counsel had employed some road transport in connection with a small job in his garden.. The price was, he said, far too high, and he proposed to offer the haulier half the amount charged. In view of the many railway complaints of rate-cutting on the part of road hauliers, we are sure that the moral of the old adage "practice what you preach . . ." will not be lost upon this champion of railway transport.
IT is, of course, an offence not Ito carry a licence in the proper position on a vehicle. In a recent police case, the excuse of the defendant was that the licence had been eaten by his pet goat. We are wondering whether this applied also to the container, and whether the licence proved as indigestible to the animal as it sometimes does to the vehicle owner. How a Driver Lost 14 is Road Fund
Licence . . .
Honesty Boxes for MOST of us have, at some Unpaid Fares or 1111time, been faced with the
Buses situation that, wishing to de
scend from a bus, we find that our fare has not been collected, the conductor is perhaps on the top deck and the bus full of passengers. Huddersfield Corporation has met this problem by the provision, on its trolleybuses, of "honesty boxes," in which passengers are asked 'to place. fares that the conductor has not had time to collect. The yield for the first year of operation amounted to . nearly £20, and included was an IOU for id. The same experiment has been tried in Glasgow, and in that city hundreds of pounds have, we believe, been collected in this way.