Evening star., 1935-11-10


they pertain only to cars "manufac-
tured or assembled after January l,
1885. In two.States the law does not
60 into full operation until January
!, 1887.
This law is one of the most positive
steps taken in recent years in the in
terest of safety. Its value cannot be
underestimated. For a while many
"old" cars will still appear on the
streets without this desirable feature,
but time will erase them. Practically
every car now built has it as a
standard equipment.
Laws in force this year requiring
safety glass either in busses or pri-
vately owned passenger cars, or both,
affect about 80 per cent of the total
number of registered cars in the
country. When those laws now on
the statute books become fully effec-
tive January l, 1886 and 1887, total
of approximately 73 per cent of all
registrations will be required to use
safety glass.
The laws of most of these States
vary in some respects. In some the
designation in the law Is safety
glass" in others ''laminated glass" or
"shatterproof glass" In other ways,
also, these laws differ while each has
the same purpose-to protect occu-
pants of the car from injury by glass
in case of accident. But irrespective
of the designation. it is all what the
public understands to be safety
glass" that glass which is triumph
of the chemists art and the manu-
facturer OF plasticS, for it has given
to automobiles a glass that is virtually
shatterproof when broken, which is
perfectly transparent and offers clear
visibility to the driver.
The greatest increase in the use OF
safety glass being required by law
came this year, when in nine States
tn. law completely, or in part, be-
came effective. In one State, Michl-
gan, the law went into full operation
in 1884. The glass required by law
for the safety of automobile paSsen-
gers consists, in its most common
form, of two sheets of glass between
which is welded, or laminated, thin
layer of tough, transparent, plastic
material. If it receives heavy blow
the glass layers may be cracked into
a thousand pieces, but the pieces gen.
orally adhere to the plastic layer and
there are seldom flying fragments to
injure passengers in the car.
It was not until about 1927, when
automobile manufacturers began to
offer safety glass, that the transparent
plastic found place in the production
of the closed body type of motor cars.
To supply the demand the plastic
manufacturers had to overcome as
promptly as possible several outstand-
ing defects in the material; namely,
haze, dirt and discoloration and dete-
rioration when exposed to sunlight. In
tensive research to improve operating
practice eventually eliminated the old
degests, nd safety glass. made properly
from first-class materials, is free today
from the shortcomings SO obvious in
the earlier product. Quality OF the
plastic layer is made certain through
careful inspection of every sheet.
Haze, or a lack of complete trans
parency, was a defect that could not
be permitted in the windshield or
in the windows of a closed car; par
ticularly was it Objectionable to the
driver facing an oblique ray OF SUM-
light or approaching headlights. The
effect on vision was equivalent to that
of a layer of dust on the glass. Haze
hnin
only to inorganic impurities and Gel
lulose impurities, but also in part to
the methods of manipulation involved
in the manufacture of the sheeting.
These findings became the basis OF
methods of improving quality, involv-
ing changes in raw materials and in
operating procedure. with the result
that today haze is no LANCER
problem.
These research efforts, experiments
and tests conducted by the manufac-
turer of plastics now makes available
greatly superior product. one that
remains transparent under the most
rigorous conditions, irrespective of
whether the temperature is abnorm-
ally high or low and which is not
affected by changes in climate, except
that the plastic loses some of its
strength in below-zero weather. Re-
search and development are still pro-
ceeding and still further improve
ments may be expected from new and
radically different processes of manu-
facture. Although laminated safety
glass had its origin abroad, the quality
now being manufactured in this coun-
try is said to be superior to that Of
any other country.
The requirement that non-shatter-
able glass be used in busSes in Cali
fornia, when glass is used, dates back
to March /, 1882, when a rule went
into effect there. In windshields only,
laminated glass, celluloid or mica is
permitted, while in body lights (win-
dows) must be used either laminated
or wire glass, ceiluloid or mica, or be
left open. California has new legal
requirement for safety glass in passen->
ger cars, effective January l, 1886.
Tennessee does not require safety
glass in private passenger cars, but
does make that requirement Tor
public motor vehicles in both wind
shields and body lights, confining the
requirement to motor busses.
Massachusetts formerly required
Iaminated plate in wlndshields only in
both passenger cars and motor busses,
making no requirement for body lights
In either. However, that law was re-
pealed this year, to become effective
January l, 1886, requiring body lights
of safety glass in all but privately
owned automobiles and trucks owned
by farmers for their own use, if pre-
viously registered in another State,
and not to carry passengers for hire.
Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Oklahoma
have laws which are almost precisely
the same as the Massachusetts, law,
all of them going into effect January
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