Evening star., 1912-11-17

attention Of the manufacturers in Ameri-
ca for a long time. and that is the
left-hand drive. which seems to be
growing in favor and which has been
adopted by a number of makers for 1913.
Two years ago nearly every car of
American make was provided with a
right-hand steering wheel. with the
shifting levers on the outside or the
car, on the right side also. Within that
period great strides have been made
in automobile engineering, and as re-
suit 1t has been adopted by number or
prominent designers. With the adop-
ton Of the left-side drive, naturally
comes center control, or the levers In
the center of the car. Many o. the de-!
signers have admitted freely the utility
of the left-side steer. and the equally
new though practical central arrange
ment of control levers.
The much discussed question as to
which type of drive and control should
be made standard is still an open one,
as each type has many advocates. The
status Of the right-hand drive as.
standard construction is still doubtful.
although the left-hand drive advocates
are rapidly increasing in numbers, and
next year will see more cars than eyer
before equipped with this style #of
steer. The tendency Of s.nali car buf1d-
ers favors the left-side drive, some Of
them placing the levers on the left
sue anu OtHcTS pIdclHS the gears VI
control in the center. Manufacturers
of the larger, higher priced machines
have been more conservative, practical
ly all of them. with few exceptions,
adhering to the right hand drive, with
the levers on the drivers right. In
some instances the control levers are
on the right Of the driver, but on the
inside Of the car or built in the body
itself.
The announcements of the 1918
Havo1nn nf
manufacturers have been converted to
the left-hand drive with the levers on
the left of the driver or located in the
center Of the floor boards. The majority,
hand drive standard construction, al
though number have settled the
question to their own satisfaction by
placing the levers in the center, and
making the situation Of the steering
wheel on the right or left optional with
the purchaser. Some manufacturers
are also producing models some Of
which are equipped with right-hand
drive and others of the left-hand drive
type.
Left-hand steering is favored for city
driving, while advocates of the right side
assert that the type has all the advan-
tages on the country roads. The con-
trolling features of the modern automo-
bile, consisting of the steering wheel
and. generally. a gearshift lever and an
emergency brake lever permit Of five
possible arrangements. These are: Steer
ing wheel on the left side. with the con-
troll levers on the drivers left; steering
wheel on the left, with the levers in the
center, on the drivers right; wheel on
the right with the levers in the center,
on the drivers right; wheel on the right,
with levers in the center, to the left of
the driver, and wheel on the right with
levers on the right. The last type is the
nearest to a general standard at the pres
ent time, as one hundred of the leading
cars of the country use that type of drive
and lever control.
Adherents to each of the four possible
arrangements advance strong arguments
as to the advantages and disadvantages
Of the types In order to adopt stand
ard type 1t would be necessary to en-
body the most important advantages and
the least disadvantages. Among the ad-
vantages are: Both front seats are ac-
cessible from the curb, the driver can
get out of the car quickly and easily to
open the door and assist the women to
alight; in passing vehicles going in the
same direction the driver is able to see
any obstacle or other vehicle coming in
the opposite direction sooner than with