Evening star., 1938-11-13

average woman's knowledge is rated
by service authorities as high as
that Of most men.
The two sexes act about the same.
The woman car owner is given
slight edge by some authorities on
the ground that her natural instinct
for order and efficiency makes her
more alert to maintaining her car
in proper condition. When the
car does not seem to be running
just right, she drops around to a
service station or garage to find
out what is wrong. She does not
tell the mechanic, but asks him,
what 1t is. For that matter, how
ever, SO do most men.
When something goes wrong with
the car that keeps 1t from running,
women are every bit as handy in
getting on the telephone as the
male car owner. This form of
equality between the sexes is held
to be especially pronounced.
With regard to the broad de-
mands they submit to the car
maintenance experts, men and
women are about the same. Both
have learned to dislike the knocks,
taps, rattles and squeals which older
motorists accepted with an attitude
Of pious, or impious, resignation.
Both are coming around to demand
ing a reasonable degree of cleanI-
ness, Of easy handling, and none of
a growing class of both sexes will
put up with slow brakes. The lat
ter is qualified to some extent by
the fact that some members of both
sexes constitute an exception to the
rule Of good brake maintenance.
In car buying, in which she fig
ures just as largely as the man,
even though the latter retains the
distinction Of signing the check,
the woman no longer stands out as
woman. So say dealers and sales
men everywhere.
The woman asks first OF a car
that it have good appearance. She
wants 1t to have power, speed, and
the ability to accelerate rapidly.
She asks that 1t steer easily, that
the gears shift without effort, and
that it ride comfortably. She wants
to drive it herself to see that it
meets all Of these specifications.
In these respects, she is not a bit
different from any man.
Dealers and statesmen make a
point in this connection that sus-
tains the view there no longer is
any room for argument over the
comparative driving abilities of the
two sexes.
Motor Official Agrees.
In the early days of the motor
car, automobiles were demonstrated
by some qualified person on the
staff of the dealer. There was a
considerable reluctance to let the
prospect handle the controls until
it was rather emphatically evident
that he was likely to buy. At first,
this attitude held in the case of
both men and women. Gradually,
1t was modified and prospects were
given a chance to learn for them
selves how the car actually drove
Men were the first to scale this
barrier of the dealers lack of con-
fidence in their driving ability.
Women were admitted more re-
luctantly and slowly and. to the ac-
compartment of shudders and in
ward groans. Now any woman who
asks to try new, or used, car
thereby demonstrates her ability to
drive to the dealers satisfaction.
In fact. no one waits for her to
ask. She is assumed to be as capa-
bic as the male of the species.
Again the lady has gone along
bowling over prejudices and prov
ing her right to equality in motor
dom.
The individual who deals with the
largest number of motorists at all
times is the motor vehicle official
Collectively, her Office has yearly
contact of one kind or another with
many millions of car owners, ap-
proXimately one-fourth of whom are
women.
Between the sexes, he does not
notice the slightest difference in
any one of many categories.
Not Awed.
Driving license examinations pro-
vide an Illustration. The woman
applicant no longer is awed or un-
certain when she assays this test
of poise. She answers the ex-
aminer's questions with the assur-
ance and conviction of one who has