Motorcycle accident

[Mike K]

A group of AWM pics that are referring to a prang in Melbourne. Australian drivers had to deal with a nightime 'brownout' and driving at night was considerably more hazardous with reduced street lighting and headlamp covers.

Description
MELBOURNE, VIC. 1943-06-12. CASUALTIES IN WARTIME WERE NOT LIMITED TO FRONT-LINE PERSONNEL ONLY. BASE TROOPS HAD THEIR SHARE OF THEM AS ILLUSTRATED BY THIS PHOTOGRAPH. SIDE VIEW OF WRECKED DESPATCH RIDER MOTOR

The car that was involved was a 1938 Oldsmobile, it's bumber bar was painted white, which was in accordance with the brownout regulations. Bike was a army Matchless.

More about the car https://www.oldsmobileinaustralia.info/38hist.html

Apparently the prang occurred just before the brownout restrictions were lifted as reported in this July 1943 newspaper snippet.

[Mike K]

1942 Newspaper snippets, and

Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954), Friday 19 December 1941, page 6


Car And Cycle Lights Should Be Screened At Once: How To Do It

As soon as public lighting in streets, roads and highways in the declared arcH is modified to comply with emergency conditions, all road vehicles will have to run on severely restricted lights. Regulations to be gazetted for vehicular lighting will prescribe that no lights other than those masked or screened in a way approved by the Chief Commissioner or Police may be used on the outside of any car or other type of vehicle.

Simple methods of adjusting the lighting of motor cars and other .vehicles, to meet the requirement: of the regulations, are: HEAD LAMPS Paint the lower half of light globes with black matt paint, and above the centre of the front of the globe paint a small half disc to screen filament glare. (Sec diagram 1).Biack Biack out. the lower part of reflectors to half an inch above the centre line. (Diagram 21. Cover the headlamp glass with black paint, or with an opaque disc fitted immediately behind the lens, leaving a light aperture lVfjin. (vide, horizontally across the middle of the heaalamp. (Diagram 3). Lamps must not exceed a light strength of 7 watts. . REAR LAMPS Red rear lights must be displayed. but the lamps must not exceed 7 watts. Black-out whole reflector with matt paint, and reduce the light area, by masking or painting the red glass or mica, to a circle of 2fn. diameter, or its equivalent. (Diagram 4). Cover the light aperture with two layers of newspaner. or some material of equal density, to reduce the red glare. STOP LIGHTS Stop lights and panel lights illuminating number plates must-be completely obscured. PARKING LIGHTS Omy two side or parking lamps may be used, and they must be adjusted in the same way as rear lamps. INSIDE LIGHTS Interior illumination or dashboard panels visible from outside the vehicle are forbidden DUAL PURPOSE LIGHTS Lights that serve both as headlamps and parking lamps should be treated in the same wav as one-globe headlamps. This is "the type of headlnmp in which an extra - low power globe is incorporated. . MOTOR CYCLES . i Treated in the same way as 1 ; cars. PEDAL CYCLES i Black out, the upper half of the headlight glass anci the lower half I, of the reflector. No light must be ! allowed to show from ventlla-Ition apertures.

I Screen or paint the tail light in (the same way as for cars. To avoid night accidents in | dimly-lit streets, the police advise motorists to drive with extremc care, especially approaching intersections, and to put white paint on bumper bars, running boards, and those places that will ; help to outline the vehicle. All cyclists should paint rear mudguards white. PEDESTRIANS Pedestrians should be wary crossing roads and at street corners, said the Chief of the Traffic Police (Sub-Inspector Fowles) today. As a safety measure they ; should do everything possible to! make themselves visible to other | people, especially to drivers ofi vehicles.

Wear light-colored clothes If possible," he said, " and a white handkerchief or tie one around the arm. People who want to hail tramcars should wait on the kerb until the tram comes. The safest practice Is to wait, for 1 trams at compulsory stopping 'places."

[Mike K]

Continuing the accident theme, we have a upside down Dodge

Description
Scene of a military motor vehicle accident at No. 24 Air Stores Park, RAAF. This photograph is from a collection relating to 2028 Flying Officer William John Lewis, No. 21 Squadron, RAAF.

[Mike K]

Description
LAE - NADZAB ROAD, NEW GUINEA. 1944-03-09. DRIVERS BEING HANDED A CHECK TICKET AT A CONTROL POST. THE POSTS ESTABLISHED ABOUT EIGHT MILES APART ALONG THE LAE - NADZAB ROAD ARE TO PREVENT ACCIDENTS AND ROAD DETERIORATION CAUSED BY SPEEDING. THE TIME IS NOTED ON THE TICKET, AND VEHICLES MUST NOT COVER THE DISTANCE BETWEEN POSTS IN UNDER NINETEEN MINUTES. AMERICANS HAVE SIMILAR POSTS FOR AMERICAN VEHICLES.

[Mike K]

This UK booklet is available as a download, it has two drawings of headlamp covers

https://viewer.slv.vic.gov.au/?entit...60&mode=browse

https://find.slv.vic.gov.au/discover...anced&offset=0