The Washington herald., 1913-07-13
women SUPERIOR
AS AUTO DRIVERS
Few Accidents Occur When
Member of Fair Sex
Is at Wheel
RECORDS ARE QUOTED
Districts Permit Clerk Says They Are
More Cautious Than
Men.
RECORDS ARE QUOTED

ers of automobiles rather than criticiset
is the opinion Of H. W. Woodward. sec
retary of the District Automobile Board
He bases his views upon personal OBJ
servations made by him during the tel
years he has served as secretary to tn
District board.
Should a woman drive q cart" Mr.
Woodward was asked.
And why not?' he replied. They d.
everything else that we men do. save
possibly, vote.
Those who protest women drivinl
| automobiles say that they are to'
| nervous, lack strength to handle them
| and are excitable and cannot concen
trate on the matter in hand and keel
their head at the same time This Is al
bosh. Their opinion is based solely OF
personal impressions. II they had mad
any investigation of the subject or oc
cupied a position where they were thrown
in contact with automobile drivers they
would change their views
Few COMPLAINTS Made.
Judging from the lack Of complaint:
we receive against women. / should sa,
they are very capable drivers. The,
are naturally more cautious and tmic
and for that reason figure in less ac'
cidents than men, VINO are more EechIess
and will take a chance.
Il would a hundred times rather see
a woman driving an automobile than tc
see a boy fifteen or sixteen years old
riding a motorcycle or driving cal
on the crowded streets. Ninety-nine Per
cent of the women in Washington driving
cars are as capable Of managing them as
men who have had similar experience.
The District permit clerk is more than
willing to vouch for the skill and ABILITY
of the woman drivers Of Washington to
keep their nerve in tight places The
number of women drivers in proportion
to the large number of men drivers Is.
of course, very small, but according to
Mr. Woodward the number Of the fair
sex who are becoming motor bugs" is
fast increasing.
"You can take it from me, ! am not
opposed to women driving cars. When I
have a woman applicant for a drivers
license it takes me about half as long to
complete the necessary examination as
it does with a man. I have never had
one to miss a question that 1 have asked
concerning the traffic regulations. Hun
dreds of men have come into my Office
unprepared to stand an examination and
thought they could hluff their way
through, and after failing to answer the
question concerning the speed rate cor
rectly, want to argue that 1 am wrong.
l don't argue with them: / simply give
them a booklet of the traffic regulations
and tell them when they can answer the
questions to come back.
TT is very seldom that you pick up
the paper and read of an automobile
driven by a woman running down .
pedestrian, or colliding with a street car
or another automobile. When a woman
gets in a tight place the first thing she
does is to shove both the clutch and
brake pedals in and stall the engine.
She never runs into anything, but some
times she gets run into.''
That women are careful drivers u as-
serted by Mr.. Woodward. He stated
that during his entire experience he had
never seen but one woman who was ex-
ceeding the speed limit.
Drive Within Law.
Il don't believe that there is adosen
cases on record in Police Court where
women have violated the speed laws.
That is certainly more than you can say
in favor Of the men. Most women are
afraid of fast driving. even when the
car Is driven by an expert and for that
reason drive slowly themselves. Their
horror Of hurting persons and even AMI
mails makes them cautious.'
A well-known local dealer when asked
for his opinion regarding women driving
cars thoroughly agreed with Mr.. Wood
ward that he thought them competent
drivers. He declared that the near per-
fection attained by the manufacturers Of
made them safe for a woman
to handle
"one thing that has given the woman
driver confidence has been the marvellous
growth of the electric automobile busi-.
ness The cars are light. and their easy
control permits those driving them to
traverse the downtown streets at the
busiest hour Of the day without fear.
Many women graduate from the electric
to the big gasoline car. and their skillful
Of the cars prove that their
apprenticeship was well spent.
There was a time when women knew
all about the gears and various leverA
but were ignorant Of what they called
those foolish things inside. Times have
changed even this. Most women drivers
today are making q careful study Of their
cars. They may lack the muscular
strength to take down an engine, but
they are beginning to know how 1t should
be done, and to locate the source Of trou-
BILE in case Of breakdown. There u no
earthly reason why women should not
drive a car. They are a. Intelligent ~
men, and think moro careful II any.
thing. they have the edge on the men"
Whatever the opinion Of number Of
skeptics may be regarding women driving
cars, one thing II sure-they have Q
stanch friend in Mr.. woodward. and need
fear no opposition from District authori-
ties.
The PolloalED In CaAaAa. \
The lure Of ths bas was too STRONG
for Taylor Pollock. On Tuesday he de-
cided that he could not help while point
Ing out the merits Of m oldmob1e to .
customer mGigtng mention Of
how fine the bass and trout dghiag u at
this time Of -. in csoad!sn wessrs and