Evening star., 1935-10-06
USEFUL AUTO TIPS
/. GIVEN FOR WOMEN
New Lighting Improvements
Will Give Driver Better
Road View.
BY FREDERICK C. RUSSELL.

road for every one. Each Is surpris-
ingly simple, yet the net result should
mark the end of both weak and glar-
ing headlights.
One is simply a system of improving
electrical connections, so that even
old cars which rattle over the road
will no longer have those Pickering
or yellow lights If they have batteries
! in reasonably good condition. The
other improvement is cap that
breaks the center and unreflected rays
from each lamp. This improvement
was first introduced as a special ac-
cessory that fitted over the outside Of
the lamps, but in its present form
the cap is fused into the glass in such
a way that it cannot change position.
am calling upon the readers Of
this column to cooperate in an un-
dertaking which Is expected to play
an important role in cutting down the
unprecedented amount of grief on
street and highway. 1t has nothing
to do With the usual accident preven-
tion plans, important as they may be.
1t merely takes the form of asking
you to report to this column what
driving slower.
We all know that 1t takes much
more gas to travel so than to roll
along at legal speeds. but many driv-
ers who are cutting down report sur
prising economies in oil consumption,
tire service and maintenance. A num-
ber of drivers have found that above
so miles an hour oil consumption is
doubled for every extra 10 miles per
hour in speed. Maybe you have dis
covered something equally interesting.
If you are finding that driving more
moderately not only gets you there
with much greater assurance but ac-
tually saves you money, won't you do
motoring in general a favor by re-
porting the facts and letting me have
them in care of this newspaper? By
going slower one driver noticed that
the front tires were making a hum
ming sound. She stopped, saw that
the front tires were wearing rapidly
because Of misalignment, and steered
she been travelling fast she may not
have heard the tires and probably
would have had to buy a new set
upon reaching her destination. You
may know of similar instance. If
SO, please pass the news along. Let's
take the economy route to safety.
Don't be disappointed If the recon-
ditioned engine seems to use as much
Oil as 1t did before it went to the
service station. The rings Of such an
engine are similar to those In q new
engine. They must have a chance to
adjust themselves. There must be
time for carbon to build up around
the grooves and make something of
an oil seal. A new engine often will
use considerable oil for the first few
thousand miles.
The motor vehicle department of
an eastern State received an inquiry
from a woman who wanted to tour
through the State, but who feared
that her car would not pass the COM
pulsory inspection. OF course, it was
not necessary for her to have her car
inspected, but her admission that the
car wasn't in very safe shape pre-
sented the department with a knotty
problem. Her request that the de-
partment map out for her a route
tat was free from hills eased the
problem a little.
If more motorists would seek level
roads when planning their long tours
they would save gas, oil, tires and
brake lining. When car goes uphill
it really lifts as well as propels itself.
The lift may be gradual but it Is a
lift Just the same On some routes
through country that is anything but
mountainous a car may raise itself
500 feet every few miles. Every lift
also entails drop. You pay for
those drops in brake lining as well as
in oil consumption. The latter loss
is due to the pistons sucking oil from
the crankcase when the car goes
downhill on compression.
To woman who has inquired as
to why some of the experienced
drivers do not write books telling the
novice how to drive I explained that,
while this Is being done to a certain
extent, the business of driving is one
that can't be boiled down to hard
and fast rules. do not know of any
patent system that will teach a per-
son to drive, nor do I know of any
group of rules which, If followed to
the letter, will help a driver avoid
accidents. Some drivers have avoided
accidents by going directly contrary
to rules that are considered basic. 1t
was the only way to get out of the
path Of some one else who made a
driving error. Such being the case
it is better to make the learning pro-
cess constant, accumulating ideas
from every reliable source and being
ready at all times to amplfy or revise
any driving hint that comes along.
A typical example is the one about
pressing the clutch pedal to the floor
in stopping. In a recent advertise
ment a sudden, sure stop is pictured
from the standpoint of the drivers
feet. The clutch pedal is all the way
to the floor while the brake pedal is
slightly more than half way down. If
this is stop from high speed it is
misleading. 1t is bad practice to de-
clutch Immediately when slowing down
from speed because that will make the
car entirely dependent upon its brakes
and is more likely to cause skid. If
the car is travelling so miles per hour
it will lose nearly 10 miles per hour
| in speed the instant the driver lifts
her foot from the accelerator. This
Is a big help. The brakes themselves
have less to do In taking care Of the
remainder of the stop.
I should revise the stopping rule
| slightly for q quick halt in traffic.