Evening star., 1936-02-27
MOTORISTS IS. O."
BEING TESTED
Ref|ex.o.Meter in Washinn-
ton in Connection
a.
With Film.

Your I. @. may be high. but your
8. @. is low unless you can step on
the brakes p. D. @.
An apparatus called the reflex
o.meter Is in town and Washington
drivers can have their S. @. tested.
s. @. means safety quotient. and
drivers are endowed with 1t according
to their ability to react to an enler-
gency.
First tests we're made yesterday In
front of Loew's Palace Theater. They
will be continued today.
The refiex-o-meter measures the
time it takes a driver to recognize an
emergency necessitating a stop and
get his foot on the brake. Accord
Ing to the sponsors of the device. 1t
is the general belief that the action
Is simultaneous, whereas s. Q. tests
show that the average reaction time Is
five-eighths of second.
The person to be tested on the
refex-o-meter sits down at table
beneath which are a clutch peoal'
brake pedal and accelerator corre-
sponding to similar devices IN an
automobile but with very dissimilar
results. When the "accelerator" Is
pressed down a green traffic light
shines on a panel before the ope-
rators eyes.
Green Light Changes to Red.
If you plan to take this test and
want to make a high score. stay on
your guard, for next thing you know
the green light changes to red and
you're supposed to take your foot on
the "accelerator" and mash the
"brake." This action halts a stop
watch which was started when the
light flashed red. The teacher"
reads from the watch how long it
took you to put on the brakes. Then
he gives you card with your score.
Average S. @. is 100. The fellow
who makes 1875 or 167 is considered
excellent and goes to the head of the
class. A score of 500. the highest pos
sible, is virtually unknown. A dam
serously low reaction is shown by any
score under so.
The 500 score can be attained by
transferring the foot from accelerator
to brake in one-eighth of a second.
Half a second rates a l25 score, a
full second only 81.
Pamphlets containing Is questions
on safety will be distributed at the
demonstrations. Each question has
three answers, one of which is cor
rect. A mark of IS is considered
excellent.
Time Importance Shown.
The Johns -Manville Co, manufac-
turers of the reflex o-meter and spon-
sors of the safety school conducted
in this connection, has charted figures
to show the importance of a fraction
Of a second in stopping a car. The
figures show the following:
If a car is travelling so miles an
hour and the drivers reaction time
is five-eighths of a second, the car
will travel As feet before he gets
his foot on the brake. Then. If the
pavement is dry and unobstructed and
his brakes are in good order, the car
will travel another 1873 feet before
1t can be brought to safe stop.
Accordingly. at so miles an hour a
driver with average reaction should
keep a clear space of 1873 feet ahead
of him if he wishes to avoid acci-
dents in an emergency.
Safe stopping time varies with the
speed of the car and the reaction
of the driver. tests show. An average
driver, it has been found, will require
% feet to stop at 20 miles an hour,
but the length needed for stopping In
creases much faster than the speed
of the car. So at 80 miles an hour
he will need 425 feet for stopping
and his car will travel 73 feet before
he begins braking.