, 1920-08-12
AVOID SKIDDINC
BY USING Chain
PROPER Handling of Clutch and
Brakes Win Prevent Rear
Wheels From Locking.
DON'T TURN STEERING WHEEL
More Than Extra Caution Should BE
Exercised by Driver, Especially
the Novice, to Avoid Acct
dents on We Days,

Choose a smooth bit of asphalt pave
ment when 1t Is free from traffic and
where it is nice and slippery from a
spring shower. Speed up to the traffic
limit, put on the brake and at he
same time turn the steering wheel
slightly to one side. See what hap
pens. Then sit In the back seat n
let some one else skid the car. You
will be cured, at least until you forget
the '"gone" feeling.
The open season for skiddinp tis
spring, summer, fall and winter. 1t
m with late frost and cold rains,
with the thunder shower and the
street sprinkler, with the equinoctial
and earliest snowflakes and with loose
snow. packed snow and ice. But YOU
may escape 1t or at least its danger
GUS phases and learn to neutralize the
effect.
Chief Cause Of skIddine.
The chief cause OF skidding Is run
ming on a wet pavement at dry pave
ment speed. Then you want to stop
quickly and apply the brake, but the
car does not stop. The rear end slews
around and hits the curb or another
vehicle, or the a goes straight on
n drifts into a trolley, automobile
or pedestrian. You should treat a car
on a wet pavement the same as Won
treat yourself on ice, as though always
expecting your feet to 60 out from un-
der you.
Front wheel skids come chiefly from
rounding a corner or curve at so high
a speed that the front wheels lose
their traction. To overcome 1t apply
the brake gently, which will drag the
rear wheels and give the front wheels
a chance to take hold.
Another cause Of skidding. which
comes chiefly in the country, is due to
a crowned road, or one which is fresh
ly oiled. The novice will find a
crowned road-that is, one which is
higher in the center han at the sides
is often dangerous when wet. A
road which is much Travelled accumu-
lates quite a bit of oil, and water add
ed makes 1t a mighty slippery PROPOSE
ton. One is likely to take a sudden
Side into the ditch.
Chains Surest Safeguard.
Anti-skid chains are necessary
when travelling on roads such as / have
described. Their use is not imperative
on the front wheels ordinarily, al
though many careful drivers apply
them there. Chains are the surest
safeguard against skidding.
HM-- .LH|
. When a skid occurs, turn the front
wheels in the direction of the skid,
release the clutch and apply the brake
gently when the wheels seem to take
hold, not before. Do not apply the
brake too harshly or you will increase
the skid action.
Skldding often may be prevented by
throttling down the engine and apply
ing the brake while the clutch is still
engaged. This will prevent the rear
wheels from locking. 1t is a peculiar
ity Of traction that revolving wheels
are less likely to skid than where they
are locked and sliding over the ave
ment. But when you try this method
be very sure that when the brake Is
applied you do not twist the steering
wheel.
The novice would do well 10 test
this method on a wet pavement where
there Ia no traffic. Make the skid az
directed earlier In this article, but at
a very moderate pace and then try to
correct 1t by this method.