Page:Motors and motor-driving (1902).djvu/375

Rh Night-driving.—When driving at night one should never travel at a speed greater than that which affords time to pull up after seeing any object clearly by the light of your lamps. Of course if two acetylene lamps are used one can travel up to twenty-five miles an hour in perfect safety, the road being sufficiently illuminated to give plenty of time to stop; but if ordinary oil or candle lamps are used, eight or ten miles is the limit of safety. In very foggy weather it is best to turn one lamp sideways so as to indicate the side of the road. The offside lamp pointing forward should be covered with a handkerchief, to diffuse the light and cause less refraction from the fog in front.

One of the most difficult things to see on the road at night are sheep, as they make little noise when going along slowly, and seem to blend with the colour of the path. The writer remembers some years ago running into a flock of sheep from this cause when travelling late at night on a carriage having only candle lamps. The consequent smash and the amount of attendant repair bill are still engraven on his mind.

It must also be remembered that many people walking, seeing the lights of the car, assume that you see them as well as they see you. Again, it is almost impossible to believe, until one has had actual experience, how invisible some large objects are which may be on the road in front of you at night, and which it is impossible to see until one is within a few yards of them. In summer, probably owing to the roads being usually white, the light from one's lamp is much more effective than in winter. A very dark night is actually better for driving than a moonlight night with the moon partly obscured by clouds.

In conclusion, it is well to remember that under all circumstances a fixed habit of careful driving should be practised. Reckless driving has no utility, and must result in a serious accident sooner or later. The difference in the time taken by a careful driver and by a reckless driver in a day's journey is infinitesimal. To obtain this small gain, however, the reckless driver has probably incurred a tremendous number of risks all