How To Drive A Motorcar
A Key To The Subtleties Of Motoring
År: 1915
Forlag: Temple Press Ltd.
Sted: London
Udgave: 2
Sider: 138
UDK: 629.113 How
Written and illustrated by the Staff of "The Motor"
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STEERING BETWEEN TWO OBSTACLES
On Passing Other Vehicles
As a general rule leave a fair amount of space
between yourself and any other vehicle which you are
passing. To be able, in case of necessity, successfully
to pass some object with only an inch of clearance is a
most excellent attribute to a driver’s skill, but if such
a proceeding is indulged in habitually then it is nothing
more nor less than crass stupidity. There are all sorts
of clever things which the really capable driver should
be able to accomplish but which the really capable
driver never does accomplish except in cases of
necessity. Tight corners do occasionally occur, due
either to one’s own semi-recklessness or to the stupidity
of some third party.
A Not Uncommon Tight Corner
When such a thing as a “ close shave,” as it is
usually termed colloquially, has to be encountered
with regard to steering, do not endeavour to look at
both sides at once. This is a fatal mistake, yet it is
one which the vast majority of drivers seem to make.
If, for the sake of example, you suddenly find your-
self with what you doubt to be sufficient room to pass
between the wheel of a steamroller on one side and a
brick wall on the other, it can serve absolutely no use-
ful purpose to try and look at both sides of the car
when making the attempt.
It will serve no useful purpose to enumerate the
many occasions when, from one cause or another, one
is faced with an unpleasant proposition of this kind, so
we will merely consider the example quoted as a
criterion of other similar situations.
Assume, then, that the brakes have failed on a hill,
or that for some reason or other we see in front a road
bound on the one side by a brick wall and on the other
side a steamroller. It is entirely out of the question
to be able to stop in time, and the only chance of
safety is to pass between the two obstructions. Is
there room to pass ? Primarily, so far as possible, keep
quite cool. That advice is easy to give, but of course
we all know that the ability successfully to keep one’s
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