Evening star., 1936-02-09

dark about automobile accidents If
more light were shed on the high
ways.
II the door lock is hard to operate
the situation calls for immediate at
tention before the lock gives more
serious trouble. This attention Is so
simple no one is justified in over
looking it. Simply dip the key in
some powdered graphite and then
insert it into the lock. Do this sew
eral times and the trouble will vanish.
Much overheating in Winter is due
to the lower water hose collapsing.
II anti-freeze does not pass down
through the radiator core fast enough
to keep pace with the water pump
there will be sufficient suction within
the lower water hose to cause 1t to
be drawn inward, thus restricting the
flow of water very much as thermo-
stat would do it. Water entering the
top of the radiator from the engine
head then surges out the overflow
pipe, thus completing the vicious
cycle.
To remedy this. have the radiator
core reverse flushed, install a new
hose connection and insert a spiral
spring to reinforce the hose If it is
abnormally long.
Accepting education as the keynote
of safety awheel is not complete with
out realizing that enforcement Is the
keynote Of education. Comparisons
may be odious, but one wonders how
far education could have gone with
out the school system, truant officers
and the general compulsion under
which students work. To assume that
the automobilist can learn how to
drive safely, simply through his own
desire to become proficient, is to ex-
pect the impossible.
Safety advocates are alarmed over
the scarcity of highway patrolmen.
Many such patrolmen are charged
with numerous duties other than
counseling and reprimanding drivers.
If the same scarcity of teachers ex-
listed the Nations level of intelligence
would stage radical drop. 1t would
be almost impossible to learn any
thing except through the school of
hard knocks, which is exactly the
way most of the drivers education
is obtained today.
While 1t is true that when breaker
points are not in alignment they
will not necessarily interfere with
engine operation, nevertheless the
points themselves will last longer if
they make proper contact. To align
them it is necessary merely to have
your service man squeeze them to-
gether with pliers or a similar tool.
After this they should be carefully
spaced and adjusted.
Any woman who has set in her own
living room and lost patience over the
lack of harmony in its color scheme is
logical convert to the new school of
safety thought which attributes part
of the drivers fatigue to the adverse
effects on her eyes as produced by
things seen within the car itself.
Particularly important is the effort
to eliminate glare from misplaced
chrome plated trim within the driv-
ing compartment. Another forward
step is the elimination Of non-con-
trasting colors.
If the instrument board is gaudy it
is apt to catch lot Of miscellaneous
light and reflect it so as to annoy the
driver. There should be nothing in
the driving compartment to catch
stray rays of light from street lamps,
and if the drivers eye strain is to be
reduced materially there must be
completely new attitude toward in
terror color schemes. These changes
may not be so appealing when the car
is on the showroom floor, but on the
road they will be welcome.
This consideration Of the relation
between color confusion and driving
strain has already been taken up seri-
ously by several manufacturers. One
of them has gone so far as to have his
engineers chart the percentage of con-
fusion with certain incorrect combina-
tions of interior trim. AS result of
such activities and tests expect to see
more metallic trimmings in copper
green and a wider use of buff color for
upholstery.
1t isn't so many years ago when car
owners observed the quantity Of oil in
the engine by lifting the hood and
peering at the indicator Of the OIL
level gauge. So today, when the guam
tity of oil is judged by withdrawing
bayonet, it is perhaps unreasonable to
expect all owners to take advantage of
the opportunity to add inspection Of
the quality of the oil. When the bay
onet is withdrawn, there should be
enough oil on it to furnish an idea Of
the latter's appearance. Note if it is
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