Evening Star Newspaper, July 12, 1931, Page 41

In the Motor World BY G. ADAM! NIFORMITY in the National Capital has at last won out. The long-existing controversy over the left- hand turn was settled last week when the Commissioners approved the recommendation of Willlam A. Van Duzer, recently installed director of the department of vehicles and traffic. This recom- mendation asked for the abolition of the rotary turn and substituted in its place the turn from the center lane of traffic, prescribed in the Municipal Code of Street and Highway Safety. Commencing September 15 the National Capital will join the majority of large cities in the uniform left turn. In the city itself all left-hand turns will be uniform. Certainly the visiting motorists during the George ‘Washington Bicentennial will have & happier time. Safeguard the Pedestrians. In the making of the regular left turn motorists will do well to re- member that pedestrians must be at all times safeguarded. The easier flow of traffic due to the new turn will not outweigh the endangering of their safety. This will not be done if the motorists :ixerclse due care and considera- on. The first official act of Mr. Van | Duzer has been a wise one. Uniformity must be recognized in the adoption of traffic regulations. Standardization is one of the key- notes to progress. Wise formula- tion of rules depends upon what is best for the majority. Differ- ences in these rules when apply- ing to the same matter can only cause bewilderment and confusion. ‘The motorist of today does not confine his traveling—generally speaking he goes everywhere. Uniform regulations aid him and as a result aid the cause of safe- ty. Motoring must be made as safe as humanly possible. Per- fected machines and good roads must not be overbalanced by un- wise regulations and un-uniform ones. Auto Least Responsible. Of all the factors involved in traffic accidents, the automobile itself is least responsible, accord- ing to studies recently completed by the Albert Russel Erskine Bureau for Street Traffic Research, in Harvard University. fection of the modern vehicle is such that human nature has not as yet adjusted itself to take ad- vantage of its full efficiency. “Not only in number but in per- centage, these defects in humanity run so far ahead of defects in the automobiles as to make it instan- taneously obvious that we have only ourselves to blame,” states| Dr. Miller McClintock, director of | the Erskine Bureau. “The simple | fact is that mankind has created a mechanical device which func- tions far more efficiently than do man himself. The remedy is ap- parently education and more edu- cation, to convince man that he must live up to his car.” No less than 9 out of every 10 cars involved in accidents are in perfectly good conditien, this report shows. Only one in every 10 accidents, therefore, can prop- erly be attributed to the automo- biles, which leaves the glaring fact that 90 per cent and over are the result of bad human judg- ment, human carelessness or human stupidity. Accidents in Good Weather. “It is generally known that the overwhelming proportion of acci- dents takes place on dry roads, in clear weather and in daylight,” says Dr. McClintock. “Our studies bear that out, showing 80 per cent of mishaps on good road surface. 81 on fair days and 57 per cent in daylight. If no other figures than these were available, the fact would be inescapable that the car's driver and the pedestrian rather than the cars are respon- sible for accidents, because me- chanical defects would be as in- strumental at night or on rainy days or on slippery roads. “But abundant other figures are available. Study of over a million accidents reveals that defective brakes caused 3.4 per cent; lack of chains, 1.4; glaring headlights, 1.3; punctures or blowouts, 1.2, and defective steering gear, lights being out, and all other defects together mounted up to only 3.8 per cent. The entire share of ac- cidents attributable to the car is therefore 11.1. And this is on fatal accidents only! In non-fatal accidents the automobile had de- fects in only 5 per cent!” ‘Turning attention to the human element - in accidents, analysis shows further that crossing be- tween intersections accounts for one-fourth of the difficulties—in this: analysis, 81,527 accidents. Other leading causes are: Chil- dren playing on streets, 20 per cent; no signals at intersections, 12 per cent; coming from behind parked cars, 11 per cent; crossing at intersections against signal, 11 per cent, and crossing at intersec- tions with signal, 8 per cent. Other causes analyzed included cross- ing diagonally, hitching on ve- hicles, getting on or off vehicles, walking or working on roadways, standing in safety aisles, and not being on the roadway at all. “Economy in city government is splendid, but there is somewhat of a tendency to disregard what MOTOR DON'TS DON'T START A TRIP WITH POOR BRAKES! RAKES SHOULD BE CHECKED OVER PROPER ADJUSTMENT AND FOR EQUALIZATION. HYDRAULICS MUST BE TOO TIGHT FOR A LONG TOUR N HOT WEATHER !! — —— The per-| S HOWARD. ‘economy’ really is,” John W. Reid of Detroit, president of the Amer- ican - Society of Municipal Engi- neers, declared while in St. Louis attending a recent society con- ference. “Many times the endeavor to keep taxes below a certain point has resulted in greater costs to taxpayers,” asserted Mr. Reid. “For instance,” he pointed out, “a city may have several streets that are badly in need of replacement, but action ma{ be postponed in the effort to keep the tax rate down. Yet year after year more money may be spent in maintain- ing those rough streets than the interest charges and funding of a bond issue for street rebuilding would cost. In either case, the fellow who pays the bill is the taxpayer. “Where people are massed to- gether in cities the city must assume many and varied duties. The larger the city, the more com- plicated and costly city duties be- come. If cities didn't grow they could probably be operated at fixed costs, and the taxpayer might know with surety what his taxes would be five years hence. But cities grow and more sewers, streets, schools, traffic lights, policemen and so on must be supplied. “Off hand, I know of no city that is adequately supplied with public structures, and by that I do not mean that it is a hopeless struggle to keep up with the de- mand. But I do mean that when a municipality makes a definite effort to reduce expenditures by slde-step?ain the construction of needed facilities, there is a very great danger of handicapping and imposing a surprisingly large burden on the taxpayer. Bargain Prices Prevailing. “Looking at the bargain prices that now prevail in construction work, I am of the opinion that the city that does not go ahead with its needed improvements, as in normal times, is indeed short- sighted and not playing fair with its taxpayers. Above all things work should proceed on projects cdlled for in approved city and regional plans. “There are still many unem- Floyed men. I know of no large ndustry that requires the man- power that construction does. Contributions through local taxes and voluntary donations to wel- fare organizations have already reached large amounts. If, through provision for needed public con- struction, some of the money go- ing for welfare could be used to furnish employment to men who would much prefer employment to charity, the city would benefit permanently. “It is true that in many cities the efforts of private citizens and business leaders to relieve the dis- tress brought to many families are only partly efficient because of failure of municipal leaders to co-operate, with a consequent delay in work-giving public con- struction. Oftentimes there is hesitancy on the part of political leaders in creating new projects. But if the project is sound and of a definite value there is no good reason why any one should ex- hibit obstinacy. “Numerous cities are econom- ically carrying on improvement programs which are affording real unemployment relief. Among these are New Orleans, Memphis, Taco- ma and Cincinnati, while other cities such as Houston and Kansas City have projected improvements for immediate construction. “Kansas City recently adopted 20 bond issue proposals calling for the expenditure of $40,000,000 and the theme song that won the voters’ approval was that of pro- viding work, of building needed structures, and bargain prices,” said Mr. Reid. Reclaiming Cotton. Cotton as well as rubber can now be reclaimed from automobile tire trimmings. Discovery of a process which permits this sal- vage has been reported to the American Chemical Society. Previously it was possibie to re- cover only the rubber from the trimmings. This was done either by washing or by an acid process during which the cotton fabric disintegrated. The actual cost of recovering cotton and rubber by the new extraction process in 20 per cent lower than the acid method, and, in addition, both are completely reclaimed without suffering any deterioration. The methods for- merly used resulted also in either a depreciated product or an in- complete separation of the rubber and cotton. The utilization of tire trim- mings, which are composed of uncured rubber and long staple cotton, has always been a difficult problem, according to the report. Though their potential worth was always considerable, the actual money value was only a fraction of what it should have been, due to faulty reclaiming processes which wasted the cotton, and re- covered the rubber in an inferior THE SUNDAY | DOWN THE ROAD—Life’s Little Tragedies. HITCH-HIKERS HIT IN MOBILIZING PLAN American Automobile Asso- ciation Sends Warning to All Motorists. Efforts to mobilize “hitch-hikers” into a national organization drew a warning to motorists from the American Automobile Association today. “Sentiment against hitch-hiking and its attendant evils,” said the A. A. A “has led eight States and the Distric | Columbia to enact statutes forhlddlngi the practice. Motorists would do well to | reall that membership in a hitch- | hiking organization does not legalize the practice in these States.” The statement by ti'e national motor- | ing body was prompted by reports from its affliated clubs to the effect that ef- forts are being made to secure informa- | tion regarding proposed trips by motor- ists in order that it could be made | available to “interested hitch-hikers.” | “Under the plan to organize those | soliciting rides along the roadside,” said | the statement, “members would be given | large cards to be used for identification | in signaling passing motorists. Assum- ing that the persons to whom they are issued are reputable, they are meaning- | less because of the ease with which they | could fall into the hands of the lawless. | “While it must be conceded that hitch-hikers are in many instances law- | ablding people who are in need of trans- portation, there also are records of | numerous _thefts, robberies, and even | murders, resulting from lifts given to strangers. One of the most tragic mur- | ders in American criminology was the | outgrowth of a ride given two strangers. | “Inability of the car owner to dis- | tinguish between the two classes led to the practice being banned in the eight States, namely, Connecticut, Delaware, | Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, New | York, Oregon and Wisconsin. 1t is only | & question of time until the law will be | universal in its application. Ignore All Signals. “Meantime the safe thin, motorist desiring to protect hi family to ignore all signals from strangers along the bighway.” The A. A. A. declared that the situa- tion is rendered more acute by the large | number of unemployed wandering about | the country in search of a job. The statement continues: “Realizing the aymplthm!! the public for the unemployed, law! men, and even women, are taking advantage of the opportunity to halt car owners with the familiar thrust of their thumbs. | Often they have the theft of the car as their motive. In these cases the owner | is forced to get out in some isolated | place while it is used for a quick get- | away after the robbery of some rural | ling station or store. Usually the car | is recovered later, but in most instances | damaged, sometimes beyond repair.” STUDIES OF RUSSIAN 0IL RESEARCH BEING MADE Petroleum Division of American Chemical Society Will Meet in Buffalo. Organized studies of Russia's quick- | ening progress in petroleum research are being made by American petroleum chemists, according to Dr. C. D. Lowry, | jr. of Chicago, secretary of the pe- | for the 1f and | * STAR, WASHINGTON, D, C. JULY 12, 1931—PART FOUR. ; —By FRANK 'BECK | MY STARS, UM JusT ABOUT ROASTED! LOWER FATALITY RATES SEEN IN STATES WITH LICENSE LAW Examination for Automobile Operators Held Potent Factor ber of Deaths and Accidents. Automobile accidents, measured by the records of the last two years, have | claimed in each of these years the life | of one person in each 3,968 and injured | one person in each 123 among the | country’s population. | States that have laws that provide | for the licensing by preliminary exami- | nation and test of prospective drivers | have experienced a saving under these |laws of 25 to 30 per cent in tramc‘ deaths, on the average, as compared with their accident records before adop- tion of these license laws and com- | pared with the records of the non- licensing States. Seven Out of 100,000 Saved. ‘Thus the States which are licensing drivers by examination and test appear | to be saving seven lives in each 100,000 | of population and preventing the injury | of 236 persons in each 100,000 of popu- | lation. Measured in terms of total population, | it can be reckoned from the above that, if prospective drivers were licensed h)" examination and test in all States, !h?‘ total of lives saved would be 8,610 and | injuries to 290,000 prevented from | traffic accidents alone each year. | In New England and the Northern Seaboard States, and in California and | Arizona, where prospective drivers are licensed by examination and test, the | increase in the traffic death rate is lower, as compared with that in all of the States. Active campaigns are in progress in a number of States to bring about the enactment of drivers’ license measures | with examination and test features in | conformity with the standard uniform license act of the National Conference | on Street and Highway Safety. Among | these States are Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, | Minnesota, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, | Utah, Nevada, Virginia, North Carolina, | Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee. | District of Columbia Experience. The National Conference has recom- | mended to the States the enactment of | a uniform law covering the licensing of all new motor vehicle drivers by exam- ination as to traffic Tules and regula-| tions, essentials of physical condition such as evesight, and demonstrations of ability to drive and control automo- mile under normal traffic conditions. The experience of 12 States and the | District of Columbia with the drivers’ license law with mandatory examination and test indicates beyond question that the law is a strong factor in increasing safety on the streets and roads and re- ducing the hazard of accidents. These States have had th> law with its exam- ination and test feature in operation for a sufficient length of time to defi- nitely indicate the effects upon traffic movement. Primary Purpose. The primary purpose of the law is to prevent? if posible, an_acident before it happens, rather than by overtaking the incompetent driver after it has hap- pened. A study of the latest statistics available indicates that out of a total of 97,000 fatal accidents from all causes in 1929, one-third of them, or 31,000, were the result of motor vehicle mis- ps. * About 7,000 lives were claimed when vehicles collided or clashed; railway grade crossings claimed 2,485 other lives. Other accidents involved pedestrians, or were due to vehicles running off the road. Two prime reasons for licensing driv- condition. troleum division of the American Chem- | ical Society, announcing that the divi- sion will convene in Buffalo August 30- September 4, in connection with the eighty-second meeting of the society. Stalin’s economic policy, stressing the significance of petroleum, has succeeded in whipping ughsavul chemists, it is dudmfl by emical Abstracts, the soclety’s reporting system, which, with Ohio State University as a center, is constantly coml the current scien- tific li:n:uresl nfw'.hée wn‘:éxdmlsor devel- opm of value cl ts United States. * e SECONDARY HIGHWAY SPEEDING UP URGED Public Pays for Roads Whether| They Exist or Not, Says A M A A speeding up of the program for pays for the highways whether he has construction of seccndm?y highway .?:f them or not. tems in States and counties, where! ‘“The total highway system of the funds can be made available, was urged | United States comprises some 3,001,825 this week by the American Motorists’ | miles. Of this mileage, 270,653 miles Assoclation. are under the jurisdiction of the State “The motorist, and vy that is meant | highway departments, the remaining almost the entire public, pays for the |2731,172 miles being designated as highways whether they have them or |rural roads. Much of this mileage is not,” it is pointed out by Thomas J.|in dire need of improvement, while a Keefe, general manager of the A. M. A. | large percentage of the roads classifled ‘This is conclusively proven by a series | as improved have grown obsolete since of tests recently made by the Iowa |construction. This system includes State College showing the relative cost | roads serving small towns and agricul- of operation of an automobile over vari- | tural communities, but its completion ous types of highways. is essential to unhampered social and “The figures show the cost per mile ! economic intercourse within the States to be 2.06 cents cheaper over a high- | as well as between the States. class type of road, compared with a low | “Traffic is incr . Road con- type road. Depreciation, maintenance, | struction is not keeping pace with the gasoline and the cost of tires and tubes | traffic increase. It must only be a increases materially when cars are|matter of time until all highways in operated over low-i roads. The cost | the United States must be improved in per mile over a high-type road is cal- | proportion to the amount of traffic they culated to be 5.44 cents; over an inter-|are forced to carry. It is the sensible mediate type at 6.43 cents mile, mdl\nd economic thing to start now, thus over a low type of road 7.50 cents | improying the secondary highway per mile. From these figures, which tems for the benefit of the public and may be regarded as fairly accurate, it at the same time rerleve unemploy- may be logically argued the motorist ment,” the statement concludes. ers by mandatory examination and test are: To prevent drivers from operating vehicles before they have learned the rules of the road and how to handle a motor car with safety to themselves and to others and, second, to provide the means for removing drivers from the road whose records show them to ligent or dangerous. ‘The class of persons that the license law rules off the road may be only 1 or 2 per cent, or even less, of all the per- sons who are driving or seek to drive motor vehicles, but the educational and safety influence of the measure affects practically the whole of the driving public. Task Assumed by State. i Under this law the State assumes the task of seeing to it that each driver is reasonably competent and safe before he is turned loose with an automobile on the roads. In States where drivers are not licensed the man responsible for a collision can get back on the roads as soon as he can extricate his car and have it repaircd, He'may be the cause of another accident and repeat the TOCeSS. % The drivers’ license act as proposed to the different States that do not have such a law at this time, is a part of the uniform vehicle code of the National Conference on Street and Highway Safety. It is the only code of its kind that has been drafted, and has been ration with and p.:fi;:;d O v 1 conference assoclations, Automobile ' Association, the American Mutual Alliance, American Railway Association, the Electric Rail- way Association, the Chamber of merce of the United States, the Nathn- al Automobile Chamber of Commerce, MAINE CONTINUES O LURE AUTOISTS ’Annual Return Made to Northeast Corner of Nation. in Reducing Num- the National Bureau of Casualty and Curety Underwriters, the National As- sociation rot‘ 'rc;xxcas gnwnfanioméq Na- R onal Safety Council, the Motor Equip-| Maine, the Pine Tree State of the ment Association, the Rubber Manu-| Union, the land of sky-blue water and facturers' Association and the United remembered vacations, certainly has a States Departmpnt of Commerce, to- | Jure for the motorist for there is some- gether with the Federal Bureau of Pub- | v fic Roads, the American Engineering| .0 about this region way up in the Council, the American Federation of Labor and the public trafic authorities | °T06S them back year after year. and commissioners of virtually all of | Much time can well be spent in the States and of the larger cities and | Maine. exploring the State, its mag- towns of the country. “(Continued on Fourth Page.) | Northeastern corner of the country that | Better housing for automobiles—the new trend in car ownership—may prove the point that the private garage, like the home, exerts a powerful influence ver its occupants. Already it has been clearly established that many ailments to which automcbiles fall heir are due largely to their environment when housed. The garage also is found to have an effect, for good or bad, on the car owner. Experience seems to demcn- strate that the best cared for cars are the one best housed. Growing realization of this is en- couraging the design of better garages and the adoption cf more modern a pointments and equipment. The ave rage home is far in the lead of its garage. As one observer puts it, too many private garages have been “de- tached.” Much of the improvement taking place in private garage design repre- sents an extension of the electrification cf the home. Today it is not enough to have electric lights in the garage with remote control from the house. Additional outlets and floor sockets are for the various electrical devices which facilitate car ownership. Many own- ers now are using motor heaters the engine inefficiently cold. The battery booster is another of the new devices Increased lighting of the garage is needed for keeping the car in condition. ‘There should be lights ir all four con- illuminate all pcints of the chassis and body when the car is being washed or polished. Convenient connections should be provided for the vacuum cleaner or for the electric polishing outfit now avallable fcr home use. Theme Song of Proper Care. “Having it handy” being the theme song of successful care of the car, it is apparent that the garage of the near future will be designed with a view to providing more storage space for the many lotions and balms needed to maintain that showroom complexicn. Closet space has been notably absent in | many thousands of garages built within the past few years. This has discouraged motorists from purchasing Ispmal tools and equipment. They have felt that with no handy place to keep them under lock and key there was no use making the investment. Cars, as a consequence, have suffered | through the owner's inability to do it now. Many of the newer engines are equip- | ped with valve and upper cylinder lubricators. Special oils are needed for these. Special hydrometers are needed ! to check the anti-freez2 in cold weather. Some cars require brake fluid. Tar re- mover is a much needed supply in Spring and Summer. The uphclstery requires the best of fabric cleanser. Never was the automobile so particular |as to the kind of treatment it receives. { . If one owner had had a bottle of dis- ‘tllled water handy he could have saved | himself battery troudle by refilling the | cells while the car was in the garage. needed to furnish handy connections, year around, so that at nc time is the | r‘)L\!lch call for additicnal current out- | ets. ners/ well down to the floor, s0 &s to| IMPROVED PRIVATE GARAGES TO BENEFIT CAR AND OWNER Modernization of Home Now Extending to Garages as Part of New Era in Motordom. | With an electric battery boster, it no |longer matters whether the water is added before garaging the car for the night or after it has started the car. Adding water temporarily weakens the battery, with the result that attending to this sort of work at night usually means inabilly to start in the morning. The battery booster ends all this. Had he been able to jack up his car jand_check the brakes, another owner would have discovered that one of them was dragging. He would have taken the | car to a brake service station immedi- ately and saved himself expense and trouble. The convenience and often the protection of being able to check the brakes and the wheels frequently now is offered through special hydraulic jacks which become a part of the equipment of the well managed garage. A number of progre:sive owners hawg their own gasoline pump, air pump and oil drum. Pits have gone out of style for ga- rages because they were dangerous. ‘The modern *motorist may want to | check his brakes for drag and make | sure his wheels are not loose or wobbly, | but if he desires subchassis lubrication or a good oiling of the spring; he wisely }dfives to a lubrication station and has this sort of work done properly. The clean garage is an invitation to him to give the car the many little attentions which it needs and which cannot al- ways be given where the major forms of doctoring are administered. Progress Held Slow. Despite the fact that every year takes its toll of carbon monoxide victims, the | work of fighting this enemy through | better housing of the car progresses | slowly. One of the leading reasons why owners are gassed trying to start their cars is because their garages are unheated. The risk is by no means confined to Winter, as often in the Spring and Fall there is considerable difficulty in cranking due to dampness. Whereas in home installation the radiators are placed under the wins dows, where they will heat air upon entering the room, in the garage they are placed without rhyme or reason. In quite a number of garages that are (Continued on Fourth Page.) GAS TAX COLLECTIONS UP $701,629.44 Received by Maryland During Month of June. Special Dispatch to The Star. BALTIMORE. July 11.—The State collected $701,620.44 from motorists in the 4-cent gasoline tax during June, or $45,486.02 mcre than in the correspond- ing month last year, according to a re- port of the State controller. For the first six months of this year the total tax paid was $3,389,017.59, as against $3,095,024.28 in the: first half of 1930. | "1tis expected the total for 1931 will | exceed $8,000,000, with the highest peak | reached in November. | _The $700,000 mark was reached in | June for the first time this year. Last | year that total was received in Augu-t and in 1929 the peak | November. was reached in NOW . . a Buick Eight for your family . . Series 50—°1025 Do you realize that now, for as little as $1025 to $1095, f. o. b. Flint, you can choose a big, roomy Buick Eight—a car that is every inch a Buick, from its powerful Valve-in-Head Straight Eight Engine to its torque tube drive and silent-shift Syncro-Mesh Transmission? Your family deserves the joy of Buick ownership Stanley H. Horner 1015-17 14th St. Bury Motor Co. Anacostia, D. C. Lodge Motor Co. Purcellyille, Va. Fred N. Buick Motor Co. 14th at L, Washington, D. C. Rosslyn, Va. W. 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