Here is a 1944 advertisement for Dunlop Tires which contains some tips for tire maintenance which are still valid today. At the time this advertisement appeared in 1944, Canada was at war and many products, including tires, were rationed. Dunlop’s tire maintenance suggestions were intended to conserve tires and extend tire life because, as the advertisement says, tires were scarce due to wartime rationing. But these tips are still true and all drivers should be aware of them.
These Dunlop tire maintenance tips in 1944 were:
“Keep driving inside the prescribed speed limit” – this is still true today; tire wear increases, and tire life decreases, measurably at higher speeds, i.e. above 90-100 kph.
“cross switch your tires occasionally” – still true today; rotating your tires from front to rear, and vice versa, is still a recommended practice today. Ask about it wherever you have your vehicle serviced.
“keep [your tires] properly inflated” – still very true today. Check your tires regularly to ensure they are properly inflated. Tire pressures over, or under, the recommended tire pressure(s) can have a very significant effect on tire wear and performance.
1944 Dunlop Tire advertisement. Notice what it says about tire maintenance; all these things are still valid today. (West Coast Driver Training collection)
So the tire maintenance tips given in this 1944 Dunlop advertisement are still true today. We will put out a video about this in future.
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While doing some research we came across this article, Forfeiting [Drivers] License Inculcates Care, in a February 1926 edition of the Daily Colonist [now the Times-Colonist]
Fear of Being Deprived of Privilege Induces Carefulness, Investigation Shows
Chicago, Feb. 27, – Fear of losing their licenses makes automobile drivers more careful. This declaration was made today by S.J. Williams, director, public safety division, National Safety Council, after a study of reports received from more than ninety American cities. In those states where operators of motor vehicles do not have to obtain licenses the drivers are not as careful as in places where they not only have to pass an examination, but face revocation of the permits if convicted of recklessness. [Emphasis added]
“The National Safety Council believes that every state in the Union should have real applications for automobile license applicants and should revoke the driving privileges of motorists convicted of operating a car while intoxicated, of taking a human life while driving, upon being convicted of a felony, upon being found physically or mentally incapable of operating a machine and for other good causes,” declared Mr. Williams. “The state should impress upon its citizens that driving is a privilege which is likely to be cancelled if abused.
“Suspension of automobile licenses is also a good step. A motorist is taught a good lesson when he is deprived of the right to drive for thirty, sixty, ninety days or more. Reports from our affiliated safety councils throughout the country show that accidents have decreased in places where licenses have been suspended or revoked and where it is not too easy to get a permit to operate a car. Publication of the names and addresses of persons whose licenses have been called in also has a good moral effect on the community in question. [Note: in December 2018 there was media coverage of an Ontario police department, York Regional, publishing the names of impaired drivers]
“Once drivers learn that they must submit to control, or sooner or later pay the penalty, we shall see a gradual but substantial decrease in the number of automobile accidents, which last year [1925] took 21,000 precious lives.”
We also liked the second story in the photo. It’s about traffic police in Berlin being provided with electric foot warmers and the elevated octagonal stands they stood on to direct traffic being used for advertising.
“Traffic Policemen
In the belief that traffic policemen will be more affable and polite with their pedal extremities [i.e. their feet] heated, safety islands in the middle of busy streets in Berlin, Germany, will be equipped with electric foot warmers. Another new fixture of the so called “islands”, which are octagonal in shape, will be paid advertisements on their eight sides, which will be illuminated at night.”
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Cars turning left across the path of oncoming motorcycles, like the scenario in the video, is a leading cause of roadway injury and death for motorcycle riders.
As the video says, look twice before you do that left turn.
Also leave extra following distance when driving behind motorcycles; motorcycles stop more quickly than cars do and you need to compensate for that when driving a car.
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We came across this 1946 Victoria newspaper advertisement for Firestone tires.
Note the “Tire Rationing Removed” in the upper right corner; tires had been rationed during World War II (1939-1945). Also note the list of Firestone dealers at the bottom. These businesses are now gone but some of the buildings remain.
A 1946 Victoria newspaper advertisement for Firestone tires. Note the “Tire Rationing Removed” in the upper right corner; tires had been rationed during World War II.
Our advertisement in the Cowichan Valley Citizen, 23 November 2018
West Coast Driver Training is the newest Driving School in the Cowichan Valley and we are now booking new students.
We offer competitively priced Driving Lessons taught by a Driving Instructor with decades of professional driving experience and the highest ICBC Driving Instructor Licensing certification among current Cowichan Valley Driving Instructors.
As a newly opened Driver Training School we currently have openings available. Book with us and learn to drive with our Professional Drivers and Instructors.
Clarkson’s Car Years was a BBC TV series, hosted by Jeremy Clarkson (also a co-host of Top Gear), which first aired in 2000 and which put out some episodes which are still well worth watching if you like automotive history.
