Evening star., 1936-05-03

TodayS report, recently given OF
"Have certain manufacturers, espe-'
cially in the light car field, effected
economies, particularly in bumpers, so
as to make cars less Safe?"
The answer, through John L.
Lovett, chairman of the subcommittee
on contact with the automotive in
dustry, follows:
There is an apparent misconcep-
ton on the part of many people with
reference to the function of bumper.
A bumper is not protector Of human
beings struck by automobiles, for, re-
gardless of the speed of the car and
regardless of the strength, size or
f1exibility of the bumper (within
practical limits, any person hit by a
bumper is bound to be injured to
greater or lesser extent.
THE bumper is designed to be
protector of the car and OF the prop
ertv hit, and, to some extent, a pro-
tector of the person or persons IN tne
car.
In the design of bumper, very
fine balance between rigidity ana
f1exibility is striven for. Too rigid
and heavy a bumper becomes bat
tering ram and is serious menace 10
anv object hit by the car, and. at tne
same time. transmits the entire force
of the shock back into the car proper.
On the other hand, in the case OF
severe impact too flexible or sou d
bumper would result in the front END
of the car being badly collapsed ana
yerv often the motor would be forced
into the driving compartment. tnus
resulting in very serious injury OF tne
occupants of the front or driving seat.
1T is true that after an accident
many bumpers appear to be seriously
bent and to the uninitiated might
seem too light and poorly designed.
However. it must be remembered tna'
the very fact that the bumper is serl-
ously bent proves that it has per-
formed the function for which 1t was
designed. In that very bending 1t mas
absorbed a great deal of the shock OF
impact, thus, on one hand, preventing
the transmission of the total shock
into the car proper, and, on the other
hand, softening the blow against the
object which has been struck.
THE manufacturers of bumpers,
through their engineering research,
and in cooperation with the car
manufacturer, are continually striving
to attain this ideal balance between
rigidity and flexibility, and we believe
that in the modern bumper design that
ideal condition is very closely ap-
preached.
"It must be remembered that a
bumper is only protection against i'm
pact from one direction and also covers
only an area relatively close to the
ground. Some extremely serious &C
cidents occur wherein automobiles hit
objects head-on which are above and
entirely clear of the area protected by
the bumper. and in these cases the
bumper is of little use.
Accidents resulting from careless and
reckless handling of an automobile,
and which subject the bumper to
stresses for which it was not designed
and the meeting of which stresses is
not its function, cannot be prevented
by changes in bumper design either in
the direction of more or less rigidity
Such accidents probably cannot be
eliminated, but they can be materially
reduced by proper and uniform regula-
tion of driving conditions and more
careful study and enforcement of the
rules and regulations under which
lr-iyiy,y 1ironcoc ra icS11nH ~
The series of reports are most inter-
esting. One dealing with lights will
be published in the near future.
Declaring that parking meters would
cost Washington motorists nearly half
million dollars annually, the A. A. A.
District of Columbia Motor Club an
nounceS today that its Advisory Board
had voted overwhelmingly against in
stallation of the devices on the streets
of the Nations Capital.
THE proposed rider to the District
appropriation bill, which would author
ize the Commissioners to charge fee
for parking on the streets, is the first
step in an organized effort to install
thousands of the meters throughout
Washington's congested area" the
local motor clubs statement continued.
''The real effect of the meters would
be not so much to improve parking
conditions as it is to develop a new
source of revenue for relief advalorem
taxpayers. Motor vehicle operators
already are overburdened with a null
tiplicity of taxes, and the D. c. Motor
Club is unalterably opposed to any
attempt toward placing further load
of double taxation on the shoulders
Of car owners.
Installation of 5000 meters in
Washington's congested zone would
mean an annual cost to motorists
here of some s450,O00, with little
or no direct benefit to the motorists.
They would be forced to pay out that
sum each year for the privilege Of
being more promptly arrested because
of a moment or two Of overtime park
ing.
THE parking meter plan is not a
kafety plan; it Is not traffic con-
crol measure; it is not even an ade-
quate parking relief measure. Its
adoption inevitably would delay the
working out of a sane, sound and ef-
fective solution of our parking prob
lem.
lit is only fair that the motorists
of Washington should know that park
ing meters could be produced and in
stalled at a cost of less than SO, while
the standard price at the moment is
around $50 apiece. On the average
each meter would produce $3.50 year.
which would mean that they would pay
for themselves three times over in the
first year of installation. It is not
surprising that the major appeal in
its behalf has been the easy money
appeal as new and continuing source
of city revenue for general purposes
at the expense of one class of citi-'
zens."
Highway construction offers to the
administration the most appropriate