The Washington herald., 1922-09-17


with a great deal of the burden OF
| free service.
Let me illustrate the faults dis
closed in the handling of 24.227
emergency road calls during 1921
by the Automobile Club of Missouri
what the Trouble shooter Found.
In these calls the trouble was d.
| vided as follows.
| Tire trouble. 1864
| Battery trouble. e............... 673
| Ignition trouble. e............... 662
| Lighting trouble. e............... $40
| Carburetor trouble. le............ 381
Drivers reported in 1876 calls
that they simply couldn't. start
and didn't know the reason for II.
In our territory. as We are organ
lied to handle this type of work. 1T
has become the biggest single serv-
| ice that Is rendered to our members
OF which they are conscious. Ig-
norance on the part of owners, how
ever. made the vast majority of IL
necessary: and this ignorance Is re-
tarding the sale OF cars-casting re-
Election on particular makes. the re-
suit of which is a loss Of business
to the dealer as well as a tremen-
/
the part of the owner. Lack OF
real service on the part Of dealers
Is the true cause.
The dealer has brought this con-
| dition on himself-because he
doesn't start the owner off on the
| proper basis of acquaintance with
the car he is to drive.
The automobile OF today is built.
not for one year, but for many
years. We know from our actual
road experience that the cars have
the mileage built into them. Yet
there are many of the identical cars
that We use in our service which
/ are generally abused by the owners
| Through desire to abuse? No
through ignorance. Think Of the
one problem of fabrication. then
think of the possibilities of service
| in motor cars that are properly
! fabricated. How many owners un-
derstand even remotely the advan-
tage and value 'of correct lubrica-
ton? Certainly every owner has
right to expect constant instruc-
tion and follow-up on a subject OF
| so much Importance TO him. and
certainly the dealer should grant
! II. No doubt those dealers who have
made successes of the handling of
cars, have done this very thing.
But the majority of all motor car
trouble seems TO go back to this
| fundamental.
Don't Burden the Owner.
And batteries: II Is customary to
disclaim responsibility for the cleo
I trical system on the car. But II
responsibility is disclaimed, why
have 1t. II the manufacturer or
dealer OF the car can't stand be-
hind the electrical devices used on
the car, how in the name of heaven
is the owner to be expected to know
lanythinE about It? Why should
! this responsibility be put on the
owner?
Above all. however, Is the obliga-
tion of the dealer to every motorist
| in this country to see that no car is
turned over to a driver who Is not a
safe driver. There is tremendous
burden on the automobile industry
today in the form of liability and
property damage insurance rates.
When collision Is considered. the
sum represented which the owner
must carry, and which is a direct
large. The basic cause for heavy
industry. is very large. The basic
cause for heavy insurance rates is
the ignorance OF the er-drivers
and not in my opinion, the fault
OF carelessness or of the speed
maniac-unless both of these fall
into the general category of ignor-
| ance.
| There have been tons and tons of
literature written about safety
first" literally millions of dollars
have been spent I'm propaganda, bu:
automobiles still find their way into
the hands of those inexperienced in
their operation. And the majority
of the fault again lies IN the service
delivered through the dealer
| 1t would be interesting for the
y: tional Automobile Dealers Asso-
citation to make an investigation.
through some of the leading dealers
| OF the country. to determine the
relation OF wrecks occurring to cars
! in the hands of first users as COM
pared to those occurring in the
hands of experienced drivers.
All of us know there are many
people driving automobiles today
who are not temperamentally fitted
to drive them. j am convinced that
a large part of this condition could
be corrected by a careful instruction
from the dealers at the time of sale
on certain fundamentals of the cars
operation which relate to speed.
| brakes, lights and control. Just
take a single instance--how many
times have you observed some driver
try to back a car into a curb? What
gyrations he goes through, PLATA.
straight illustration of this point at
forgettable instruction.
Lessons In Wrong Place.
Then where are the demonstra
tions and instructions given? Usual
ly in some park or quiet street. And
where does the driver drive? Usual
! ly into the very heart of a con-
gested business district or on some
thoroughfare.
Who pays the bills? The indus
try and the generally careful
human life that Is being exacted
from the pedestrian day by day.
Take the question of light. The
average purchaser of a car assumes
that he has proper and legal lights
Many dealers. however. pay little or
no attention to the question OF
proper light adjustment on cars.
with the result that the man who
is obeying the law is usually the