The drive through mist and fog, Philip G V,

In the mid-1960s in Ceylon, we drove cars (I owned a FIAT 1100) with Dynamos which did not adequately supply the electric power needs of a car, with head-lights using tungsten bulbs and a windscreen wiper working constantly, to clear the windscreen. The headlights would be very dim on the way home. Next day morning the battery would be down and the car would need a push start. I had read about alternators which had been fitted to farm tractors in the USA in the mid-1950s, in the ‘Popular Mechanics’ magazine, in our school library at Hartley College, Point-Pedro. In 1974, I imported a Toyota Corolla from Japan – Japanese cars were a rarity in Ceylon of those days – this car had an alternator. This solved the electrical problems of British and Continental cars, then in use on the roads in Ceylon.
In 1966 December, I was driving down the road from Haputhale to Beragala, around 10 pm, after a day’s work in Badulla. My First Apothecary Thiru was in the front seat and my mother was in the back seat. There was mist on the road coming down-hill from Haputhale town. It was very dangerous driving, with a sheer drop on one side and the road wet with a constant drizzle. At one point there was a severe mist and fog with visibility limited to a few yards in front of the car. We could have stopped and waited for the mist to clear, but the danger of being knocked from behind, by a following vehicle was great. Thiru got out of the car, went in front and literally ‘walked me’ out of the patch of fog. We went home dog tired.
A friend of mine Mr. Ranatunge, was driving to Nuwara Eliya through Ramboda when he came across severe fog on the highway. His wife was seated in the front seat. Another car overtook them and went on its way. Ranatunge’s wife suggested that they follow the tail lights of the car in front, because he seemed familiar with the road. They went along covering a lot of ground when all of a sudden, the driver in front turned right and braked sharply. Ranathunge could not react fast enough and crashed into the car in front. He hurriedly got out and went to meet the driver in front, for not using his blinkers when he turned unexpectedly. The man replied ‘Excuse me, I did not know that I had to use blinkers, to turn into my own garage’. Ranathunge had followed a fellow-planter into his own bungalow. There was very little damage to both cars – they were made of stronger steel those days. Amity was restored, they were afforded bed and breakfast and were sent on their way to Welimada via Nuwara Eliya, the next morning.