Evening star., 1953-02-23
Parked Cars Have
Peculiar Knack Of
Being Dangerous

BENG dangerous
Because automobiles are de-
signed for use, it is no mystery
that their safety while parked is
a. subject that is only recently
coming in for attention.
The idle car has brought a
comparatively new problem into
sharper focus.
Now that it has become some
thing of a feat to find a place to
leave the car unattended, the
risk of damage while it stands
on it's own begins to loom a bit
larger.
What put the subject into the
news, however, is the fact that
careless parking has become
something Of a safety hazard, if
not an actual menace. What
your car does when you are at
the wheel is one thing; what it
does when the gremlins take the
wheel may be something else
again.
More and more newspaper ac-
counts tell of collisions and fa-
talities with no one at the wheel.
The truth is. however, that
some one who was at the wheel
just before the parking accident
failed to take proper precau-
tions. Much that applied when
you had choice of the best spots
for parking now needs complete
revision in view of the precarious
positions in which many cars
must be left.
Bad Brakes Lead List.
Top On the list of errors that
are making parked cars a con-
slant source of danger is failure
to keep the parking brake in
good condition. People who use
parking lots are likely to be
trapped into such neglect since
it is only upon occasion that
they find it necessary to leave
the car where it must rely on its
own brakes to hold it stationary.
It is a comparatively simple
service operation to take up on
the hand brake, and no driver is
doing his share toward highway
safety unless he favors the car
with this highly important de-
tail.
The car can be left in gear,
should the hand brake not do a
secure job of holding it. but this
isn't too satisfactory.
On a steep grade, the car may
move to turn the front wheels
toward the curb so that if the
engine doesn't provide too good
a brake, the car itself will not
move. What so often is over
looked, however. is the fact that
there is no curbing at many
places where cars are stopped.
Parked cars move very quietly
when they first go into action.
You may be watching one and
not be conscious that it is NOV
ing until it is too late to do much
about checking it's course.
Today there is no convenient
running board on which to Jump
in an effort to steer it to safety.
The hazard of reaching through
the car window to grab the
steering wheel, while trying to
run alongside the car, is a little
too much personal risk for most
bystanders to take.
Apply Firmly.
Well to the fore in parking
errors is failure to apply the
hand brake firmly. If the brake
operates through the rear serv-
ice brakes, you can get a firm
hold by pressing down hard on
the brake pedal and then pulling
back the hand lever.
No such trick is possible where
the hand brake applies through
the propeller shaft, but usually
this type of brake is in better
condition since it is not used
except for parking.
Many drivers fail to recognize
that their cars may be moved
by others and that such move
ment may release the hand
brake, snap the gears into neu-
trail or skid it along on ice.
There have been numerous IA
talitieS through failure to under
stand the controls of cars with
automatic tranSmiSsions. These
cars plainly have a parking posi-
ton on the selector control. and
under no conditions should they
be left with the motor running
since it is so easy for a child or
a passenger unacquainted with
the control to move the lever to
the drive position.
There still are many times
when it pays to slip a small rock
under one of the wheels where
the car has to be left in a dan
: gerouS spot. Avoid situations
where the car is too much at the
mercy Of other parked vehicles
which may be carelessly han
died.
CThe Russell Service)