Page
THE CROSSINGS
From The Motorists' Point
Of View
I am a motorist who boasts the twenty-five year Veteran's badge, yet I have some sym- pathy with an outburst. I heard recently from a man who for car for many years drove t purely business reasons, but who now through illness will .never drive again, writes ก correspondent to the "Autocâr,"
a
be
"Thank goodness," he said, "I've finished with the roads, finished with cars, finished with the whole bag of tricks. Why should I, a law-abiding citizen, whose sole cbject 19 to go peaceably about my business. be glared at by everyone 0.5 though I were criminal. chivvied here and there 1.5 though I were a rogue, and treated by the police as though I were a murderer?" These sentiments
may exaggerated.. but there is some truth in them. As I have said, I am a motorist, a daily motorist more or less. I do my 12,000 miles a year regularly. I can- not be said. therefore, not to belong to the category about which there is to-day so much hue and cry. Yet why must t be assumed that 'I have no natural and normal care for the pedestrian and the cyclist?
Some 12,000 miles a year, 1;000. miles a month, 250 a week—say 36 day. Take an average speed throughout of 25 m.p.h. and I spend but one and a half hours out of every twelve motoring. The rest of the time I am" some other form DI traveller-a pedestrian, mostly, There
thousands must be
of others" ke
me. I am the pedestrian- other motorists, other motorists are the pedestrians for me. Why, then, must we all be assumed to de- velop homicidal mania when we take charge of our cars? How Often Is The Motorist
To Blame?
Everyone wil admit that there bad drivers; but I
are
RECKU GO
question very greatly whether, if an unbiased view were taken which of every accident in pedestrians and motorists' are Involved, it would be found that the fault was the "motarist's in more than 50 per cent. of them. I would wager the percentage" would certainly be below the half-way mark.
I have heard the question asked as to why motorists should object to being expected to stop-perhaps suddenly- every 200 yards or so in the Metropolitan area. The answers are so many that I hardly know where to begin. Would, for example. sühürban train pas- sengers tolerate their journeys to their offices being so pune- Is tunted? .OT
one assume driving along, say, Kensington legitimate High Street at speed. There is a car in front of you obstructing your"view of the roadway: there is a bus beside you obstructing your view of the yellow beacon. You are expected to have your eye on everything around you, and suddenly the leading car crosses: a line of metal studs which you seen could not possibly have before, whilst simultaneously a pedestrian dodges out in front of the bus and is in your track. You have done nothing wrong. "you have omitted to do nothing
that the law enjoins on you-** but you are judged on the spot and found gulity.
Another objection may be found in the siting of the safety lanes. Why must they so often be placed in positions where it is virtually impossible to take In all the potential dangers at once? As an example, take the point where the Chiswick by- pass joins the Chiswick "High- Road Traffic proceeding to London here
has a one-way Island to go round and has to watch first a double, and some-
times treble, line of vehicles
(Continued on Page 3)
*
THE
HONG KONG DAILY PRESS, TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 1935.
MOTOR
JOTTINGS |
WOMEN PREFER MEN AS LICENCE EXAMINERS
Sidelights On An Age-Old Prejudice
and
When the Minister of Transport those who agree with the Doctor, decreed a few weeks ago" that
his followers could realize women applicants for driving that it takes a great deal more Ucences should be put through than instinct to run a home well. their paces by women examiners, It takes tack, courage, hard he caused, it is said,
work, and adaptability all the sternation. Says Helen Simpson qualities, in fact, which the learn- In an English daily,
ed professions demand of those who are to practice in them suc- cessfully.
some con-
Women, according to rumour, could not bear the thought of a woman examiner by their side, silent. sardonic, wondering how much they had paid for their clothes.
1
It is nonsense on the face of it, but nonsense nowadays has a troublesome way of getting itself backed by fact. In other walks of life, too one finds that same distrust. Ask a secretary hair- dresser, waitress, if she would care to be attended" by a woman doc- tor, "Oh, no!”
"Well, but why? She's gone through the same training as the men. She's not going to charge you more. Why?"
"Well, I don't know-I'd rather it was a man." No argument at
What other reasons are there, then, for thas distrust? In the case of the woman doctor per haps there is a kind of dread test
the patient should not get that little extra ration of sympathy, that patting of the hand, which masculine practitioners so gener-. ously accord, and" by which many of them make a handsome living.
Jealousy Plays a Part
Another reason for a woman's lack of confidence in her öWN SEX is that there is sometimes a kind of jealousy. The woman doctor, solicitor, journalist, no matter how exhausting the, claims of her pro. fession may be, is not tied or
all, you see. Just a blind state-limited as is the woman with the ment of prejudice.
Unreasonable Frejudice Unhappily, so few people.are honest with themselves that it is always hard to get at the true root of a prejudice. What can it be in these two matters, of the driving test and the choice of medical adviser? Possibly the
notion (sponsored long since by Dr. Johnson) that a woman doing aything out of the home does it against the grain of her capa city, and does it badly, if only
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children and the home. She goes out to her work. She knows roughly, at what hours it will begin and
She end.
earns
money."
Not so the home woman. K she wants money she must ask for it, or save it out of house- keeping. She may be on her job from six in the morning till ten at night, She must take her children and husband get theirs. She knows she is doing good work, but is she news?
No wonder that Mrs. A. of Uandi, will not call in Dr. Joyce B., though she lives round the corrier and is a good soul by the look of her.
Self-love, Jealousy-is there any other reason? Well, possibly. Very much wrapped up and hid- den, quite unconsciously, defin- tely, sex feelings and attraction come into the matter. You might suppose that a sick woman would care not a pin whose hand-took her pulse. In theory, perhaps lt 15.80.
As Freud Would Say ..
But if you have ever been in a hospital ward and watched the examination of a patient by (a) the woman house plýsician,” and (b) the visiting male consultant, you would see a difference in the expression and demeanour that responded to each, not to be ac- counted for otherwise. And in this matter of the Minister of Transport's examiners, does lu not seem very likely that the wo man going up for her tests may think deep down, in those depths where only Dr. Freud may safely venture, as follows:-
"I don't know much about driv- ing. I've just picked it up, and
if he asks me any question about what happens in the engine I shall scream,
"And I'm never sure what signs to make to a following driver when I turn off to the right. A woman would find all this out in two two's, just because I'm looking rather nice to-day, and she might be feeling washed out, and she'd want to take me down a peg. But
a 'mafi will notice my eyes, and see that my hands are nice. If
I make him interested enough in me (and I know I can, if I set my mind to it) be won't be too strict, the
And if he turns out to be at- tractive, after all, one might ask. him to a meal. Why not? No,
a man for me every time."
It is this pathetic, or, as some think, ferocious, tendency of w0- men to see an emotional adven ture in every fresh human con- tact that is responsible for their "attitude to Mr. Hore-Belisha's in-
structresses.
why
can't thin
"FATAL ROAD -
ACCIDENTS
BRISTOL AEROPLANE COMPANY'S WORKS
The engines are in use in a con- siderable number, of air forces and are widely used by Imperial Air- ways. Limited. During the past year, the demand from various countries for the British-built en- gines has been so great that the capacity of the engine department has been strained to the utmost. a night shift has been in opera- tion for some months, Telleving
Founded in 1910, The: Bristol Aeroplane Company Limited, Fil- ten, Bristol, were one of the ploneers in the British aeroplane industry. Their various "Bull- Considerable criticism has been dog" models have achieved a very levelled at the road accident re-
high reputation, and the MK II A turns in the past on the ground
model, in particular, has been that they were not sufficiently adopted by the air forces of detailed to serve as a basis for several countries, in addition to future safety measures, and it is
our own Royal Air Force. The therefore satisfactory of report firm began the manufacture of that a searching and comprehen- air-cooled engines in 1919, since sive inquiry into the causes of
when their position bas steadily fatal accidents is now being made
improved, licences for the manu- by the Minister of Transport with
facture of Bristol engines having the assistance of the Chief Officers
been granted to armis in a large, of Police throughout the country. number of European countries, Information is being sought.by--and also in Canada and Japan. "the Minister on such questions as the conduct of drivers and cyclists at pedestrian crossings and the age of cars involved in accidents. When goods vehicles are involved, particulars will be required as to whether they were fitted with guard rails or running boards, and if not, whether the presence of guard rails would have mitigated the accident. The character. width and condition of the road where the accident happened will also be stated. Other particulars to be given will include informa- tion as to the time, place and nature' of such accident and the type of vehicle Involved, together · with the age and sex of the dri-. ver. The victims will be classified, and in the case of pedestrians, information will be obtained as to their movements immediately before the accident. The reports will indicate the causes to which accidents are attributed wholly or in part. It will be stated whe-cially qualified official of the ther the accident occurred at a marked" crossing, and if so, whe- ther the driver or cyclist falled to stop. Particulars will also be given of the horse power and year of manufacture' of the vehicles involved, and when a driver is reported to have been fatigued. details of the hours of driving will be required. It is further propos- ed to repift construction features of vehicles which contributed to the accident and defects in the layout and surface of the road, From these particulars, it will
congestion to a certain extent, but the continually-expanding busi- ness rendered further floor space essential, and a new building was put in hand some months ago,
The additions embrace an area
be noted that a most searching Inquiry is proposed, similar in its scope to the inquiries made into fatal railway accidents. It may be observed, however, that the latter are conducted by a spe-
COM-
re-
for the use of the flying school, which now adjoins the engine de- partment; the school will have as a consequence more convenient. hangarage space and also a sec- and outlet on to the aerodrome. A similar area in the existing hangars, which was not veniently situated in relation to the aerodrome, was given up to the engine department, and has become the engine repair shops. The existing floor space of the production shops embraced 103,600 sq. ft.; in addition, several depart- ments were housed in a separate building of 30,500 sq. ft. floor area, including "the experimental, re- search, repair and test depart- ments. The stripping and building shops, inwards depart- ment, Air Ministry store, and en- gine packing and despatch de- partment have now been moved from the production works to the new extension. The removal of the repair department, already mentioned, has left vacant a large and uniform area in the produc-. tion shops for the extension re-.. quired for the machine shop; and the experimental department, by absorbing the space vacated by the repair shops, is provided with an increase of some 23 per cent. in floor space. In addition, these re-arrangements also enabled the tool room to be enlarged, and re- ̈ suited generally in an improved relation between departments giv- ing easier and more efficient pro- duction routine!
The new building is well lighted. and the roof is built upon, deep- span girders which are unsupport-
Board of Trade, whereas it ap-ed over the floor area; the whole pears that the Inquiry into road accidents is being made by the Chief Office of Police for the dis-' trict, who, however capabic, is hardly likely to be qualified as a traffic expert in the wider sense of the term. In spite of this ob- lection, however, the inquiries will be widely welcomed, as they will undoubtedly assist in the forma- tion of a sounder fudgment on the relative responsibility for ac- eldents of the various road users" than has hitherto been possible.,
of the new space; therefore, is” open. and unhampered by inter- mediate pillars. The uniform. 'space, which covers approximate- lý 13,000 sq. ft., left free in the production shops by this vacation of the various departments enu- merated, is now being fitted up with new machines of the latest types. Many of the machines are of the self-contained type with "Individual motors, thus doing away to a certain extent with the necessity for line shafting.
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