Thoroughfares, Passing, &c.
The driver should avoid passing through the great thoroughfares, and prefer the widest of the less frequented streets which run parallel to them. In London, he should never go into the City through the Strand, Fleet-street, and Cheapside, between twelve and five o’clock, if he can possibly avoid it, as these streets are then crowded with every kind of vehicle. He should also avoid going into the City about mid-day, on Mondays and Fridays, on account of the droves of oxen passing through the principal streets.
The middle of the road is safest, especially for a loaded coach, except under peculiar circumstances.
In driving four horses, to keep them well in hand is a most material point, both as regards their work and for the safety of the coach. The track made by a coach in descending a hill shows whether the horses are properly held together or not. Accidents from horses taking fright, and bolting across the road, happen only to clumsy fellows, of whom the list is considerable. The rules for passing and meeting carriages on the road have already been given, yet there are times when they need not be strictly adhered to, and a little accommodation becomes expedient. Thus, if one coachman has the hill in his favour—that is, if he be going down, and a loaded coach be coming up at the same time—he who is descending, if he can do it with safety, ought to give the hardest side of the road to the other coachman.
As to narrow spaces, it is evident that where the bars can go the coach can go, as they are wider than the wheels; and consequently, if they are cleared, all is safe. The swing-bar is an excellent invention, as a horse works in it from either shoulder, and therefore quite at his ease. A sharp and experienced driver may calculate exactly the space sufficient to pass between two bodies at rest, and may therefore pass with confidence and at ease. As, however, in streets, he must meet many carriages driven by inexperienced or intoxicated fellows, who do not for a moment move in any direct line, he should allow them ample room, and proceed with the utmost caution. A driver must be incessantly on the look-out, must watch every vehicle that approaches, and give it more room than it may seem to require.