Evening star., 1936-09-12

been placed apart, the test motorist
is told to bring them together again
by manipulating two cords. He is al
lowed four trials and his total error
in judgment is then computed to give
his score. Persons with exceptionally
fine distance Judgment average but
l inch of mistakes per trial, or a
total of inches. Average is inches,
whereas poor judges make a total
error. oftentimes, of as high as Is.
Anything over the last figure is con-
sidered bad, indeed, and persons
making poor scores are warned to al
low more space than they might
otherwise think necessary when at
tempting to overtake another vehicle.
The strength test" is of excep-
tional interest to the Nations motor
lists, particularly to professional
chauffeurs and truck drivers. Since
the average strength of the human
body is pretty we'll judged by the grip
of the hand, a simple squeezing de-
vice, somewhat resembling the ham
die of a pneumatic drill. is used. A
count of Sc is considered excellent in
the case of men drivers. Chauffeurs
and operators of heavy trucks who at
tain this count have nothing to worry
about in the matter of physical ability
to handle their vehicles.
In the case of the average driver OF
private car count of SO is regarded
as satisfactory by the A. A. A. How
ever, for those registering so or below,
1t is urged that if they drive a car
they should be doubly sure that all
controls, particularly the steering
wheel, work properly and with utmost
ease. The corresponding counts for
woman drivers of motor vehicles are
81, AZ and 35 or below.
In connection with the actual ma
chine tests and calculations a series
of related questions on three sheets
of paper must be answered to deter
mine the psychological reactions of the
automobile driver. A typical example
of one Of the sets of questions Is the
following: There are 80 statements.
and opposite each one are three
words, agreeable" "disagreeable" and
neither" Some statements (chosen
at random) are fire plug" speed
ing" driver tests" police sum-
mons" riding behind a lady driver"
The person taking this test must un-
derline one of three test words (agree-
able, disagreea BILE or neither), in ac-
cordance with the way he Immediately
reacts to the statements. He is timed
by an A. A. A. assistant.
This series of questions makes up
the speed of decision" test. If
motorist exceeds the designated time
limit he is too slow in making up his
mind and is advised to be especially
careful to drive on the right hand side
of the road and to keep his speed down,
thus developing wider margin of
safety"
A MOTHER series OF written ques-
tions is entitled: Sound driving
practices" 1t includes 20 questions,
each with three possible answers, out
of which the correct one must be
chosen. A sample question and pos
sible answers: At 20 miles an hour
the foot brakes should stop car in
more than A, Is feet; B, IS feet; C,
55 feet. A low scorer in this test is
advised to familiarize himself with
city and open-road driving regulations,
particularly concerning speed limits,
signaling and right of way.
A. A. A. officials do not necessarily
advocate that these tests be used
by all traffic officials with the idea
of refusing permits to drivers who do
not make good score. The main idea
is that the various machines will
acquaint the user of them with
weaknesses of which he or she might
be utterly unaware. For instance, If
hearing in one ear is not up to nor
NAL, its work must be taken over by the
eyes. In other words, that person
must be more on the optical lookout
for passing and overtaking cars whose
audible warnings he might not hear.
On the other hand, if the vision of
one eye is impaired, the driver must
train himself to keep more alert than
otherwise with his hearing apparatus)
in order to foresee and prevent road
difficulties and possible accidents.
Virtually all of the various machines
and testing devices were invented or
perfected by Dr. A. r. Lauer Of Iowa
State College. Allgaier, in charge of
the Nationwide tour, received his
training .under DR.. Lauer.