The Washington herald., 1918-04-28
Safety Plan May =
Result in Drastic
Brake Regulations

How. about those brakes of yours.
Mr.. Motorist? Have you paid any
fattentione to them lately? Do you
know how long it takes you to stop
when you are going twenty miles
an hour? Do you know whether or
not you have good brake lining?
Your life may depend on these mat
ters and It is high time that you
took an interest in them.
Just now there is much talk of
starting a national brake inspec-
tion movement. For some unac-
countable reason the matter of
automobile brakes has not had the
attention that it deserves, but the
movement has been set on foot with
view to correcting the evils that
have existed up to the present time.
If an automobile won't start, 1t
is annoying-but IL it won't stop,
, it is exceeding dangerous. There is
no one who would be foolhardly
enough to board a train If he had
and doubt in his mind whatever as
to the effectiveness of the brakes.
and the reason one has no fear on
that score is due to the fact that
some years ago the United States
government turned its attention to
the matter of railroad braking
equipment. So important was it
considered that it occupied the at
tention of Congress for a consider
able period
But the brakes on a railroad
train were never so important as
those on an automobile. When a
railroad train leaves the station 1t
has a definite point OF destination.
1t is to go by a given route over
a private right of way with prac-
tically every crossing guarded by
switchman or signal. 1t is due to
pass at a given time and at given
speed. and it's destination is never
changed.
An automobile with decidedly more
power and speed in proportion than
the locomotive, travels not over n pri-
vate roadbed, but upon the highway,
with its course at all times an nncer-
tainty, with no one to guard the pub
lie at It's crossings with the excep-
ton of the traffic officers in the con-
gested districts-and this automobile
is in the hands, oftentimes, of a
novice.
The whole question Of security cen
ters itself upon one point--that of
brakes. Whether or not the pedes-
trian or fellow automobilist, as the
case may be, is safe or in constant
danger depends upon that one and all
important part of the car-the brak-
ing equipment.
The efficiency OF a brake depends
largely on two things-the percentage
of braking surface in proportion to
the weight Of the car. and the ma
terial forming the brake lining.
You have perhaps known your brake
to work beautifully at one time and
not at all at another. This may be
due to absorption, as some brake
Innings absorb water and oil. Conse-
quently, the lining is thicker at one
time than another. Some Innings are
soft and the compression given them
on the brake changes their thickness
and consequently creates an unceT-
, tainty. For this reason it is well
that brakes be regularly inspected.
1t is a meter of common knowledge
that large percentage of automobile
| accidents are caused by. inefficient
brakes. Should the national brake in
spection idea gain ground it is likely
to result in drastic legislation.
Laws which are the result Of agita-
ton following numberless accidents
| are not ordinarily lenient, and IL mo-
torists wish to avoid the enactment
of statutes which would tend to take
| away a great deal of the joys OF mo-
| tOring they had best see to 1t that
\ their brakes are regularly inspected
| by experts.