415 Four Wheel Brakes (Warning)
Four Wheel Brakes (Warning)
The first car fitted with four wheel brakes was a 1903 Spyker though the trend was initially slow to catch on. In 1909 Scots car manufacturer Arrol-Johnston fitted fpur wheel brakes to their 15.9 model of 1909 but from 1911 these were no longer fitted.
It was not until the 1920's that four wheel brakung was becoming more readily available and by 1924 that cars with four wheel brakes were required to display signs warning following drivers that the car could stop in a far shorter time than the a following car with two wheel brakes to minimise nose to tail shunts.
In some instances the warning takes the form of the letters F.W.B. in a circle, plainly placed for all to see on the rear of the car. In other cases the form adopted is a triangle with the worda 'four-wheel brakes,' easily ' dis tinguishable either by day or at night, when the tail light iliuminates the tri angle.
A report published in 1929 stated: “70% of British, US and Continental cars in Britain in 1924 were rear-braked only. By 1929 that figure had reduced to 1%”
Shot at The Coventry Transport Museum and Reserve Collection 18:05:2013 Ref: 91-415
415 Four Wheel Brakes (Warning)
Four Wheel Brakes (Warning)
The first car fitted with four wheel brakes was a 1903 Spyker though the trend was initially slow to catch on. In 1909 Scots car manufacturer Arrol-Johnston fitted fpur wheel brakes to their 15.9 model of 1909 but from 1911 these were no longer fitted.
It was not until the 1920's that four wheel brakung was becoming more readily available and by 1924 that cars with four wheel brakes were required to display signs warning following drivers that the car could stop in a far shorter time than the a following car with two wheel brakes to minimise nose to tail shunts.
In some instances the warning takes the form of the letters F.W.B. in a circle, plainly placed for all to see on the rear of the car. In other cases the form adopted is a triangle with the worda 'four-wheel brakes,' easily ' dis tinguishable either by day or at night, when the tail light iliuminates the tri angle.
A report published in 1929 stated: “70% of British, US and Continental cars in Britain in 1924 were rear-braked only. By 1929 that figure had reduced to 1%”
Shot at The Coventry Transport Museum and Reserve Collection 18:05:2013 Ref: 91-415