Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-12-28
Automobiles don't need remote con-
,rol-they have the hack-seat driver.

Automobiles don't need remote con-
trol-they have the back-seat driver.
Observing women-and what women
are not?-find many interesting proc
esses to engage their attention when on
a tour Of inspection through the mod
ern automobile factory. One Of the
most unique Is the sewing together Of
the cloth strips that make up the CELL
ing Of closer car. Here it Is neces-
sary to use a special sewing machine
capable Of taking stitches half way
through the thickness of the cloth. It
Is by reason OF this ingeniuS machine
that no stitches are visible to passen-
gers.
Engineers are busy trying to make
/ the automobile easier to operate. Mean
while, remember that you can steer
easier If you keep the front tires up to
the rim of the wheel instead of the
spokes. Try these the next time you
go shopping and have to do an abnor-
NAL amount of parking.
The weeks safety hint concerns the
Importance Of keeping a little farther
behind any car that Is just starting
OH. At least during the cold weather
season. The other driver may have
trouble shifting gears. That is apt to
mean a sudden slowing down and per-
hapS collision.
On q recent week end trip a woman
suffered the unpleasant experience of
having a drunken driver come careen-
ing down the road toward her. When
about Is feet from her car he gave a.
leary wave Of his hand and cut over to
his own side of the road. Meanwhile
she had been doing some lively think
ing along lines OF what a driver should
do under circumstances of this sort.
Going on the theory that a moving
and standing vehicle collide less forci-
bly, than two that are in motion, she
figured the first step was to stop. The
brakes should not be set tightly, how
ever. And 1T always pays to stay on
ones own side Of the road rather than
to try 10 dodge the oncoming trouble.
One reason why so many women
have trouble learning to drive is be-
cause they have always watched pro-
ceedingS from a seat in the rear. Things
front seat angle" If you are planning
to take lessons.
what is your idea Of the brakesP"
asked one woman who has been driv-
ing for several years, and found what I
expected. She believed the purpose of
the brakes is to lock the wheels.
If brakes did that we would not only
skid around in fine fashion but would
be unable to make quick stops. If
wheels stop and the momentum Of the
car isn't completely diSsipated, the tires
will take up the braking job and make
a mess of it. Wet rubber Is extremely
slippery. In no condition does rubber
make good braking material.
To perform their job properly
brakes must provide enough friction to
compensate for the cars momentum.
But you can't have friction between
completely gripped surfaces, such as you
get when the brake shoss lock against
the drums of the wheels. Thus it is
important to keep braking just under
the point where the shoes lock the
wheels. Engineers try to lay ont the
braking system so that this ideal can
be obtained with great ease on the part
of the driver, who is probably thinking |
of a lot of other matters during the |
process of stopping. But your skill at |
the brake pedal still is important. !