Evening Star Newspaper, September 11, 1927, Page 66

BASIS OF COURTES TRACEDTO SIGNALS Answers to A. A. A. Question- | naire Reveal General Una- nimity on Co-operation. £ procisely hway | ential attainment of the prineiple: they stand. This is the opinion of the American Auto a statement whic ve and d ored ate co-oper This . it is pointed out, definite shape in a questionnai mitted to club executives in 928 ferent communities in which A clubs are located ¥rom the large number of answers reaei offi s of the national mo- toring agency have essayed to trans Jate the terms in such a way that they may be applied to street and highway conditions as they are met by the average driver. “Co-operation and courtesy ently begin with the nals,” says the s all of the replies to the questionna zed this point. and undoubt- e majority of motoy i ec with its pri h millions usi it is obviou ety leave intentions hok ion's another in The care. st bad ny thou t doubt a the least, when th signal that i to extend Ie is not sufficient rm furtively outside e a turn or to let hang limply along the door er one's intention to stop. al should be given precisely and for a sufficient length of time for the person behind or coming toward one to see it.” The giving of signals does not stop with those involving the extended arm, the statement points out. Park- ing lights are very important signals A. A finds. “To leave a car without a lig"t to inform other motorists of its presence is to invite them to what may be physical disaster. From this it may be seen that there is much more to using the parking light than merely escaping a visit to the traffic court.” In actuel operation of the car on the street or highway there are many ways to co-operate. These are known to virtually every driver, but many fail to make use of their knowledge in co-operating with other motorists, the statement says. They are listed as follows: “Use caution at all times, whether traveling at a speed of 5 or 50 miles an hour. “Observe strictly the right of way regulation. “Always drive over to the right curb or right side of the road. “Never try, to pass another car un- til the way is absolutely clear. se the horn with discretion. When s surrendering the right of way to a car from the right, stay back of the street line, in order to let machines from the left pass. “Park with an eye to conserving space to the utmost. “Remember that pedestrians should rded courteous treatment.” SULLLLELT VR L L AL ECE L L O LT A EEEELLE R LCEL LR AL L E AL AFTER 1932—EVERY AUTOMOBILE MANUFACTURER CAN BUILD KNIGHT-ENGINED CARS [T - | road, ds that one driver Tost in that frequently are overlooked, the ,\.‘ | How automobile accidents in a | great many instances take place une | apparently safe conditions is explained | by Robbins B. Stoeckel, Connecticut motor_vehicle commissioner, in cent bulletin on acident prevent in which he points out that the m | tal rituation of the individual driv than the surroundin, his viewpoint ¢ speaking of the new four-tr way recently known “Here," safety improve had safety to_unde which nary buildin enced. may new traffic rd. This | cipal reason for the numerous serious accidents on this stretch cf | road during the last few months. record. ind that a four-t departure from ordi heretc \ nstitute time s the pr | Highway Looks S; of all these acci- h ticular high- t it tempts cer tain_drivers to do things which th 11d not do on another road apps | el e. | er s will | | make a road better and driving less ously h he Miiford tendency look safe. {to he toward the middle that is, it has beey | more as a trac w rck roads has been | quired, there will be.only the ordin: | percentage of accidents, but until that | experience is acquired we may expe of other accidents in numbers r in proportion than on similar width The pedestrian_on the four-track road is invariably inclined to walk too near the.center. A chief reason for | trouble is that every one gets the im- | pression of space and safety. When | there is a consciousness in a person’s | mind that he may be unsafe, he will take care and will not be caught. but |if he feels that by reason of ample room he does not need to be on his unwary driver whose attention is dis- tracted and who also has the idea that ¢ | he has all the room in the world. Reasonable Regulations. “There have been several accidents there which under the circumstances could hardly be expected not to hap- and particularly drunken pedestrians, on that highw: at night are bound to be in more dan- | ger than on almost any other, because the speed is so much greater there. It has been suggested and apparently agreed to by the police that those in charge of the highway set a maximum speed which they will consider rea- sonable and make everybody keep in- side of it.” Commissioner Stoeckel has won the good will of motorists in his and other States by his repeated insistence on reasonable regulations. Once made, when the officials feel sure they are reasonable, he believes they should be firmly adhered to. Enforcement, he states, has been too much a matter of allowances, and he adds forcefully: “Let us stop making unreasonable regulations, making allowances, and America’s Finest OCCUR ON “SAFE" HIGHWAYS Connecticut Motor Vehicle‘Commissioner Warns Drivers to Maintain Proper Mental Condition. = | every motor Sling to M - | slip. - | ground and z guard, then he may be caught by some | yer v | solidate safety THE SUNDAY STAR. WASHINGTON, D. €., ‘SEPTEMBER 11. 'SAYS MANY AUTO ACCIDE NTS |if we declare by a sign that we think a certain speed safe for | location, then let us act {and enforce it. It may not make a reat deal of difference whether a man car 20 or 25 miles per ax actual control of the {s concerncd, but from the point of discipline, if an authc nably determined that th is proper, then every held to it. Speed, even factor in most accidents.” Proximate Causes of Accidents. The fundame ve N mental agility or meet unusual trafi “While it is true,” he explains, “that motor vehicle accident has a which it is popularly as- ich as, for example, inatten- ire to grant a right of way, & or poor machinery, yet in st every instance that is a proxi- d no accident would have happened unless preceding | it there had been a mental failure or In other words, about every | motor vehicle accident has in its back- fundamental cause a failure of mind action. “Whatever can be accomplished to | erived | tion | complicated lessens the requirements { for mind acuteness. So there is hound to be a r number of drivers who kave sufficient agility of mind to meet the improved conditions; who, had there been no improvements, would wve been unable to ‘succeed. This s that all highway and street must give more careful study actual environment from the viewpoint of safety, always conscious that they need to consider the mind titude of the operator of a motor vehicle or of the pedestrian or other | participant in traffic. | “The road builder or engineer must | put himself into the driver’s seat of |every car and into the position of | every pedestrian and see what, if any- { thing, there is which he by his par- ticular scientific knowledge can cor- rect or change so that the traffic par- ticipant will be relieved of a problem. In Connecticut the State Highway De- partment has been employing this type of safety engineering for several and it is now so thoroughly e that accidents on the high- of the State are gradually be- g less.” Combining Safety Activities. The commissioner calls attention to the efforts being made oy his depart- ment, as directed by the Connecticut Legislature at its last session, to con- activities throughout the State. He recognizes inat a pro- gram for traffic improvement can be stated only in general terms. He states that the recent legislative act indicates that the doctors, having dis- covered what is the matter, are about to_make a prescription, and are de- DEMOUNTABLE RIMS RUNDLETT RIM & WHEEL CO. . 1336 14th St. N.W. [ETTe view- | stowly, LI 1937—PART 3, manding the co-operation of the pa- i with the full understanding th hile it may not be the right remedy it is worth trying. In discussing the point advanced by Commissioner Stoeckel, that back of every automobile accident there has been a mental slip, Richard C. Halde- man, president of the Pennsylvania Motor Federation, states that authori- ties may be compelled to give each holder of a driver's license his own speed limit, bevond which he may not | travel. “Some drivers think rapidly, some and others do not think at all,” said Mr. Haldeman. *“The driver whose mental comeback is speed be expected to handle his properly in an emergency. not true of the driver whose reaction to conditions is slow. the mentall; mental While gile operator may take r | cording to his mental ca who travels at that rate is a mena r | to everything on the road. Mental Reaction Tests. “It is not beyond the range of possi- bility that in the near future the mo- tod vehicle operator will be required to submit to a test which will show his mental reaction, and it is also possi- - [ble that after this test the authorities will fix for him a maximum speed of 25 miles an hour, or 35 miles, or 50. 1t is possible, too, that variable limits will be set for the individual speeds at wheh he must travel in congested sections. A half-wit can hold a car on a level section of concrete in the open country where there is no cross traffic, but where traffic is congested or at dangerous intersections a nimble brain is the chief need of every auto- mobile driver. “There are a few standard reasons fo: every automobile accident, such as failure to observe the right of way o \&Q \ \;\\ \ s A How 150 rules, skidding, inattention and poor machinery. As a matter of fact, back of every automobile accident is the failure of one or more drivers or a pedestrian to think the right thing at the right time. Automobiles do not wreck themselves. the control of their drivers. The ma- the mental agility of the driver. That is why there automobile accidents. thorities suggest that to correct traffic conditions studies should be made of all highways and and that iron-bound regulations should be made governing the use of these streets and highways, the regulations depending upon the nature of the traffic. I believe before the authori ties go too deep Into this intricate human element. 1 believe the will come when State authorities will grade the driver of a motor car ac- | ity.” g TIRE LOCKS NEED OIL. | Motorists Can Keep Spare Easily | Accessible by Little Care. Some motorists are so fortunate in the matter of never having to change a tire that they forget to give the at- tention necessary to keep the lock on the spare in good working order. Al- s subject to the ges of the elements, these loc auickly rust and stick fast againsc the best efforts of the key to release then A drop of light ofl applied reg: when the rest of the car is beir bricated is assurance against having to spend an hour or so, perhaps fu- tilely, trying to break the lock when one has a flat tire out on the highway far from the repair shop. \ ; i o\ U\ \ \ \ © ) §X\\\ \ \\\\\\\\\i\\\ Automotive Engineers Agreed Upon An “Ideal” Motor Car They are under | chine's response is in direct ratio to| streets, ' i study they should first investigate the | sa time | Ulilizing the middle of the high- | way on the assumption that it in- | creases the factor of safety when driving at high speeds is a practice to which: many thousands of mo- its resort daily. Just how much this precautionary measure, in f. contribute to the cause of mo- the question asked by an, local Packard dis- | ng the query, Mr. Coolican | "5 motori [ ontributes very little. If a were driving at 35 miles an d were to lose control of his it would take him approximately only one-twelfth of a second to cover ‘Center-of-Road Driving ‘ Even if Auto Is Going at High Speed | °F EUR ! Held Unsafe the additional road space to the side | that he acquires by driving in the | middle of the highway. At 40 miles | an hour it would take but one-six- teenth of a second. “Instead of adding to the safety of open-highway driving, this prac- tice is dangerous. It means inter- ference with machines coming from | the opposite direction, as well as those passing from behind. With the | passing of the crowned road, every | provision is made for each motorist | remaining on his half of the high- way. It is far safer all around. The thought that the middle of the road is less hazardous is a menacing il- | lusion that motordom certainly should | discard.” COASTERS ARE WARNED. | Practice of Allowing Car to Run in Gear Is Harmful. Coasting with the car in gear and the ignition switched off commonly is supposed to increase the resistance of | the engine to the forward movement of the car. The increase is negligible and the result of the practice may be disastrous, n with the throttle | closed in se. gasoline is ad- mifted to the ecylinders and, unex- ploded. it condenses and drips down the cylinder hes off the oil by which the pistons are lubricated. The potential damage of such a practice is obvious. It should 7Y o say the engineers. e = She is not 116" | Parking Scheme Fails. What was believed to be a solution of the parking problem in Lincoln, | Nebr., has been blown into thin air when a lawyer showed the mayor of | the town that his pet scheme was | illegal. The mayor advocated the sale | of reserved parking spaces in the | downtown section of Lincoln at the Official Corbin SPEEDOMETER SERVICE We Repair All Makes CREEL BROS. 1811-17 14th St. N.W. Pot. 433 Starting, Lighting, Ignition T N I R ( W ideal length, say the engineers. W\ \ PLAN TO PUBLISH ATLAS OPEAN HIGHWAYS Issue of International Document Will Be Discussed by Tour- ing Council. Publication of an international atlas of European highways will be dis- cussed at the forthcoming meeting of the Central Council of International Touring, *a semi-diplomatic organiza- tion, composed of Europes ntries. The meeting will be held in Paris dur. ing the month of October. Among other subjects listed for dis- cussion are the collaboration of Euro- pean countries in the dissemination of automobile touring propaganda in the United States and South America, tourist insurance, unification or aboli- tion of daylight saving time in Euy- rope, statistics of the movement of foreigners in the various countries | and other questions in relation to the tering of tourist trad AUTO REPAIRING ALL MAKES Gardner, Flint and Hudson SERVICE A SPECIALTY T.J. CAMFIELD 1615 O St. North 9767 A W\ A\ Al;ng,' nor 126’, but exactly 121"— the — She does not have a valve-in-head motor nor a sleeve valve motor, but an L-Head motor—the ideal type, say the engineers. 2'She doef not have cantilever springs, neither worm gear nor hypoid gear final drive, nor a four-bearing crank- shaft, but she does have half-elliptic springs, spiral bevel gear final drive and a seven-bearing crankshaft —all ideal, say the engineers.} —— She has none of the old and the obsoléte, she does not offer you in 1927 the features of 1925, but from stem to stern, from roof to road, = No other car in the , she is entirely new.’ world today even Woneadh approaches the Flying Cloud in its identity with the Engineers’ Ideal Car. W f— That i . W‘ . . & . is why a leading automotive paper has said that the Reo Flying Cloud is “the only feature in an otherwise colorless automobile season.” The Flying Cloud is a Pleasure Car — She is a pleasure to see, to ride in, to drive, to own. TTFARTTTTE T CCO OO T PO LN AT EE EEAE T —— She brings to motoring a thrill that mere passenger cars never had. The Metropolitan Section of the Society of Automotive Engineers held a contest in January for the design of an ‘““Ideal Car” for the American Family. 150 leading engi- neers competed and their specifica- tions were synthetized into a com- posite setofspecificatiops foran“/deal Car”— that dream of all engineers. Ask for the booklet, *“They Have and You Can,” which gives a de- tailed comparison of the Reo Flying Cloud and the “Ideal Car.” - Type of Motor The new Falcon-Knight six-cylinder engine, with seven-bearing crankshaft, is designed and built to give a superior degree of performance that is always - smooth and quiet. It has a flash of pickup and instant speed not found in other types of motors. ) — She makes old cars obsolete and many of the newest dear at any price. - — Be sure to try one out. Then you’ll understand why the engineers say that such a car is ideal. You’ll know that a car rightly designed and built can give you more than transportation, can make traveling a pleasure at all times. REO MOTOR CAR COMPANY, Lansing, Michigan T The Falcon-Knight chassis throughout is designed and constructed in keeping with the excellence of its motor. See the Falcon-Knight and drive it today. FALCON MOTORS CORPORATION, DETROIT, MICH. Closed Car Prices—$995 to $1145 f.0.b. factory Falcon-Kunight Samuel Bensinger & Sons (Commercial Garage) Fifth St., L. St. and New York Ave. Open Evenings and Sunday Desirable Territory in Maryland and Virginia Not Yet Closed THE TREW MOTOR COMPANY JOSEPH B. TREW, President 1509-1511 14th St. N.W. ; Main 4173 Northeast Branch, 10th and H Sts. Maintenance Bldg., 1437 Irving St. N.W. " (F. W. Schneider, Branch Manager) Salesrooms Open Daily Until 10 P.M.—Sunday Until 5 P.M. I o «/ " e . T 7 Main 3650 Main 7496 - . Bl / . - : T A \ a1 L LI IL T Ty T T T e