Evening star., 1942-03-01

Ss
these tires can be stretched (no pun
intended) to twice the expected
longevity. There are about 10000
cars registered in the District and
about 100000 in that part of nearby
Maryland and Virginia comprising
the Metropolitan Area. That means
more than 125,O00 cars have tires
good for one to two years Of normal
use," and these are the automobiles
that may be expected to take the
highways and byways to mountain
and shore.
At gathering around the family
table, these figures may be used to
get q broad picture Of budgeting,
then individual driving habits taken
up in detail: The average" Wash
ington motorist who drives to and
from work makes a round trip OF
about 10 miles a day. II the wife
or some other member Of the family
takes him downtown In the morning
and picks him up at night. the
daily average Is 20 miles Of tire
tread.
There is more than one way Of
eliminating or reducing this daily
mileage. Use of mass transporta-
tion facilities Is one. Another Is q
combination of the auto and buses
or street cars. a system that Is
steadily growing in popularity for
persons who live outside the Dis
trict. They drive anywhere between
to S miles to convenient point,
then board a public vehicle, cutting
down the intra-District tire wear
factor. Still another is to be found
in the share the car" plan being
fostered by Commissioner John Rus
sell Young and. committee Of
transportation experts.
This share the car" plan may
figure quite prominently In the
family round-table discussion. BY
teaming up with ones neighbors,
plus the exercise Of walking few
blocks to convenient pick up point,
some so miles a week can be saved on
tires simply by cutting the daily
trip to the Office to once or twice
a week. Each other member of the
group that rides in the friends auto
and a cargo of four or five is not an
unreasonable expectation for the
larger passenger cars-saves also.
Attention then is turned to the
daily driving of Mrs. A. Driver. This
phase of the session may bring out
the fact that she is using up to a
mile and half almost every day on
trips to market. Here Is a chance
for the mother of the family to con-
tribute to the vacation trip. By fore
seeing needs and planning her
market shopping for tire economy.
8 or miles a week can be saved in
this activity alone. Taking the chill
dren to school-perhaps they are
emergency dashes. caused by a late
start-offers a field for reducing the
weekly mileage. The habit of an
earlier start may permit time to
walk several blocks to the nearest
street car or bus to answer the
school bell.
These several methods are the
most obvious and perhaps the most
productive In the family's co-opera-
tion to cut tire mileage. Other re-
ductions may be made In single-pur-
pose trips to such places as the dry
cleaners, extra trips to visit rela-
tives in the country or "just drop
ping by" to see friends. Friendly
calls may be combined with other
driving of a reasonably ESSENTIAL ma
ture.
Explaining phase of driving that
fits into the friendship picture, Mr..
Henry says: I'VE are not suggesting
that cars be laid up or that motor
lists make drastic reductions in their
necessity or recreational driving.
What we do point out is that pend
Ing the easing up and a clarifica-
tion Of the confused situation, par
ticularly as regards rubber, motor
lists can do a great deal to keep
themselves rolling"
What can be the effect Of stored
up tire mileage? Here are some
examples:
The family that can save 100
miles for a week for "a weeks or
even less can budget a trip to
Montreal, Canada; on to Quebec
city and through its picturesque
province and return.
The family that can save rs miles
a week can plan on one trip II
Names recreation areas, or into the
Adirondacks of Northern New York.
or half a dozen holiday jaunts to
seashore resorts in Maryland, Vir-
ginia or New Jersey.
The family that can curtai1 driv-
ing so miles week can save up
mileage for a recreational journey
to the Great Smoky National Park,
with some to spare.
The recerational possibilities of
budgeted mileage for the good tire
car are variety itself. Perhaps it
would be the cleverer idea to de-
eide where you want to 60, and
when. and shoot for that mileage
mark.