The Washington times., 1916-01-29
SK|DD|NG IS GREATEST
, PERIL TO MOTOR|ST
Chains as a Precaution in Slip
perry Weather Recognized by
| Insurance Companies.
Nv f. w. MILLER.

ny W. AVA ~ AhANs
Aak, the average motorist what he
fears most in the daily handling OF his
machine ana the answer will be. skid
dinS." for. II there be one thing more
chan all others that the motorist fears
It b that sickly sinking OF ones interior
tint comes with the sudden and entire
loss Of control inevitably accompanying
. bed skid. The reckless. the foolish,
and the incompetent pedestrian can be
guarded against; even the man VINO
loses himself in a brown study in the
middle Of a busy street. and the old
lady who nutters back and forth in
tbs path OF a car like a befuddled hen
can be taken care OF with the brakes
But, with a skid sonce started. only
Providence and the skillfu hand at the
wheel are OF any avail. Like the pedes-
TRAN who. apparently, drops from no.
where in particular plumb in front or
your car. the side slip Is almost al
ways entirely unexpected. but. unlike
the former, 1t is not always unavoid-
able The case is distinctly one for
preventives. and not for remedies.
There is no remedy for a bad skid but
to patch up the damage and gather to-
gether your shaken nerves as best you
may.
As an absolute preventive OF skidding.
non-skid chains will naturally suggest
themselves at once to the reader and It
may be added that two Of the insurance
companies that write automobi,e-acci-
dent policies have taken cognizance OF
the frequency OF accidents caused by
skiddinE, and recommend the use OF
chains. In truth. If the chains are in
their proper place on the tires. our
.'ever-present danger has been exor-
cised so that the remarks which follow
may be taken merely as advice for. that
day when somebody forgot. and left his
chains in the locker at home. And right
here we can offer the hest ant-skid
rule Of all: make it an invariable rule
to keep the chains in the car. and not
trust to remembering to put them there
Just before you start out.
A slow pace will also obviate the ne
eessity Of using the brakes In the ma
tority of instances, for braking Is one
of the things that should be avoided by
all means when attempting to regain
control during skid. as. II the rear
wheels can be made to resume their
usual function Of rolling after the front
ones, the slide will be over The aver
age motorists first impulse is to jam
on the brakes hard, with the result that
tho driving wheels Immediately lock-
and continue to travel sidewise on the
small section of the tire that lost its
traction and caused the skid in the
fret place.
II 1t be possible to avoid the use or
the brakes and the front wheels be
thrown Immediately in the same dircc-
ton as the rear of the car started to
slide, the tendency to keep up this pro-
cess until the car lands up against the
curb or some other equally unpleasant
obstruction will be counteracted. and it's
progress crabwise arrested. For ex-
ample. II In attempting to pass another
vehicle to the left. the rear wheels re-
fuse to take part in the maneuver. but
start on a swing for the curb at the
mediately swung In the same direction.
thus presenting the four wheels Of the
machine as a broad N against the
sliding action. The latter then has to
instead of being aggravated by snap
the-whip action, which results when
the steering wheels are turned in the
direction opposite to that of the skid.
the front ones, they must take path
of their own, and they are naturally
restricted to the arc Of circle having
the middle Of the front axle as its CEN
it's radius. Hence that unpleasant and
sudden swing which so often results in
''sideswiping' the nearest obstruction.
or causes the car to face back in the
opposite direction when the road hap
pens to be clear. Both of these can
usually be counteracted effectively by
letting the brakes alone and using the
steering wheel. in the right direction.
which Is always that of the skid itself.
Granted, Of course. that the speed
was sufficiently moderate to keep things