The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1941-02-28
HARTz SAFETY STORY

In this age of specialization
there's always one man best fitted
| to answer any particular question.
Automobile experts the country over
can safety refer their safe-driving
problems to Harry Hartz, former
American race king, who in the
past six years has covered more
than 275,OOO miles on American
streets and highways as test driv-
er for Chevrolet Motor Division.
Preaching the gospel of safe driv-
ing in connection with all his test
runs-latest of which established
new world record for sustained
and certified automobile operation,
Hartz summarizes his driving tips
under the three C's, courtesy, COM
mon sense, and caution.
''In the face of an annual traffic
toll exceeding war losses in nearly
any single battle in history" Hartz
said, Il still cling to the belief that
| the Golden Rule can be as wisely ap-
piled to highway behavior as to any
other mode of life. Drive as you
would have others drive, and both
you and your neighbor will return
home safely.
GIN the past two years, road
| testing a Chevrolet truck over more
than 100000 miles of highways in
| every state of the Union, Canada,
| and Mexico, neither I nor any of
the drivers in my crew had single
accident, even so slight as fender
dent. Yet we travelled under every
American highway conduct code, in
all sorts of weather, and over all
types of road. Common sense, simple
caution and decent courtesy for our
| fellow-drivers resulted in a trip
unmarried by accident.
"The safe-driving hints that I
| might give are largely repetitions
of the fundamentals every driver
knows" Hartz said. However, some
| of them are worthy of emphasis if
| only for the reason that many driv-
ers now operate their cars more or
less automatically, without think
ing their way through any given
| traffic situation.
:! First and foremost is the matter
| of speed. Reasonable speed has in
creased year by year as motor cars
and highways have improved. Today
so miles per hour is not an unreas-
enable speed, provided highway
surface conditions, traffic conditions,
visibility, and the drivers own ply
steal condition permit However, it
is significant, think, to note that
Chevrolet engineers, in designing
their 1941 product, have placed red
marks on speedometers above each
five-mile figure above SO m.p.h. to
indicate increasing caution as speed
advances.
Proper use of the brakes is
another factor worthy Of review.
Sudden application Of the brakes
during casual driving when no emer-
gency has presented itself is not
only dangerous but expensive. When
you are approaching stop, take
your foot from the accelerator and
let the natural loss of motor speed
slow the car, using the brakes only
for the stop itself. On icy pavements
the gradual balancing between the
motors forward pull and the brakes
rtardation, will permit you to come
to safe, sure, straight stop, avoid
ing skids.
Courtesy factors that play an
important role in highway travel in
clude the proper use of horn and
lights. When driving in the coun-
try, always signal with the horn
when voc are passing another car,
or with the lights when you are
passing a truck. Dimming for the
oncoming driver is another court
eous gesture worth remembering.
Finally, don't even consider a
long drive unless you are physically
at par Fatigue and eyestrain rem
der you far less than the driver you
should be for your sake, the sake
of YOUR family and your fellow driV-