Evening star., 1933-04-02
STYLE OBSERVANCE
SAFETY ESSENTIAL
Drivers Need knowledge of
New Hazards to Supple
ment Experience.

ment Experience.
New styles In safety offer promise Of
another slump in the number Of auto
mobile accidents and fatalities
1t depends, say students of safety,
on how quickly and how enthusiastically
the public takes to the new ideas A
lapse into safety ideas of the linen
duster era would result in marked up
swing in accidents. Competition and
imitation are being counted upon to
accelerate the swing toward greater
security on the streets and highways.
No Longer Effective.
Many of the rules of procedure that
were useful a few years ago in the
process Of avoiding trouble when at the
wheels are no longer effective accident
preventives. Many new dangers have
developed. You can't get by with
methods that were safe 10 years ago any
more than pedestrians could avoid be-
ing caught in the traffic swirl were they
clad in the style popular at the turn
Of the century.
Consideration Of others, knowledge OF
road rules and experience still count to-
but these are not everything. Many q
well-meaning driver is caught through
failure to keep UP with some changing
style. Quite q number of accidents
have been caused by drivers on through
boulevards not realizing that, while a
driver coming out from side street will
halt to observe the full-stop regulation,
he may start of so quickly again as
to be quite as much Of hazard as the
party who actually violates the regula-
tions.
The driver who knows his latest styles
IN driving Is alive to the danger of
changing traffic regulations There has
been trend toward fewer traffic sig
nails. Many intersections, formerly
safeguarded by means of traffic lights,
now operate under the former rule re-
quiring the operator to grant the right
OF way to those who are approaching
from the right, provided they are
travelling at comparable or faster
rate of speed. Frequently boulevard
stop signs are substituted for traffic
lights, but it is necessary to bear in
mind that many drivers will not notice
them. No driver can afford to handle
his car at any intersection today on
basis Of his knowledge of what the
regulations and conditions were yes
terday.
Too Much Depez, ience.
Traffic lights themselves have been a
contributing cause of many accidents
because drivers place too much de-
pendence upon them. Little consider
alton is given to the possibility that
even though they may have the green
light in their favor fire apparatus, an
ambulance or funeral procession may
have the right of way. A check-up of
number of drivers showed that none
considered the possibility of an operator
approaching from an intersecting
street being color blind.
One of the newer dangers on the road
is that Of high speed on-coming traffic
on two-way thoroughfare. The trend
Is naturally for the faster vehicles to
run on the center lanes where they pass
within few feet of each other. 1t re-
quires merely little wandering on the
part of the traffic in the curb lanes to
cause one or both Of these passing cen
ter-lane cars to sideswipe.
With the increasing amount Of long
distance touring 1t is highly important
to consider the possible confusion of
out-of-town drivers. Often they are
looking for route signs or for some
place to eat. They are apt to violate
the simplest traffic regulations. 1t
used to be the rule that you can't tell
what the other fellow Is apt to do, but
today the new theory is that you should
be able to read his mind with reasonable
certainty. Thousands Of operators who
follow the changing styles In plotting
Of cars do not need any signaling what
soever to keep them informed OF what
others are about to do. They can chart
the future courses Of these doubtful
cars by how their drivers proceed.
Understanding Of Cars Useful.
Equally as important as understand
ing the mental processes Of other users
of the road is that OF knowing the
capacity of other cars. This requires
an intimate knowledge Of the latest
specifications or, preferably, first-hand
information as to what these new
models can and cannot do. 1t Is fatal
to attempt to pass car unless you
know something about its acceleration
ability. You have only given space
in which to pass, as q general rule;
and what If that other driver took
notion to race?
Knowing the stopping ability of other
cars helps curb accidents. Some drivers
who are making accident prevention q
science even go SO far as to study the
difference in tire traction. They know
just about how the car ahead is going
to act on a slippery street. In these
days of high speed it Is important to
know at a glance when the front wheels
Of an approaching car are starting to
shimmy-and how to get out of its way
quickly. Easy steering and speed make
it imperative to avoid even the slightest
inattention when on the open road.
Safety is changing. 1t used to be Of
rather conventional cut; now it has q
flare Of variety.
Copyright. 1880