Milford chronicle., 1955-09-30
For Safety Sake
Learn To Drive
From an Elk pert
BY VIVIAN BROWN
AP Newsfeatures

Are you the horse n buggy slow
poke automobile driver type?
or are you the "lOok-no-hands"
shOW4On when you are at the
wheel?
Both types are menace on the
road-the driver who mopes along
smelling the flowers and the one
who drives so fast he never sees
anything, not even cars or hu-
mans. II isn't the cars fault either
as a rule, as just as many we'll
creased, goOd-tired cars are in
vOlved in accidents as the run
down ialOpies.
It's getting harder to convince
parents to lend the car with acci-
dent reports appearing daily in
~eWspapers. But there is an out
md parents go for it.
One way to put it over is to take
driving lessons at a professional
driving school That is, If a course
isn't available at your local high
. school.
More and more high schools are
conducting these safe driving
courses assisted by the American
Automobile Association, who help
train teachers, supply text books
and testing devices. Cars are loan
ed usually by local car dealers.
Best of all the course is free.
New York and Connecticut PTA
groups are helping encourage par
ents to give their offspring profess
sional driving lessons in areas
. where high school driving courses
are not available. Statistics on
these courses are said to show that
only half as many of those Who've
taken the high school courses have
been involved in accidents.
What could you learn that you
don't know now about driving?
PLENTY says a 17-year-Old Con-
necticut girl whose parents gave
her a birthday present Of a driving
school course. She says:
Driving schools help lot. For
one thing I was fiabbergasted when
/ found it requires a minimum of
78 feet to stop a car going 80 miles
an hour. I keep thinking now about
a poor little squirrel ! killed once.
It was probably just because I
couldn't stop fast enough"
One parent found that driving
schools can backfire, however. 1t
seems this Dad thought he was a
wonderful driver until Junior and
Sis started heckling him. For one
thing Dad admits he was very bad
on signals and he says now the
TrfHo fvrspk 7 mo Iro than oil mon
erly or they will not ride with
me-"
The lovely thing about being a
good driver and getting the course
certificate is that it has its re-
wards
In New York, for instance, young
people who have completed the
course can get the drivers license
a year earlier than those who have
not
And as far as the family car
goes, it's easier to borrow when
you've gotten your good driving
diploma. How can Dad throw up
the accident rate If you've passed
your tests with flying colors? As
long as gas, tires and repairs are
paid for by the driver, and the
family is not using the ialopy,
you'll probably be able to borrow
it.
AS one young modern puts it,:
Il can get the car more often on
Saturday nights if l do a good
washing and polishing job on it
Saturday morning"
One parent said that he had
found that "since Mary knows
she's got to pay for a dented fend-
er (the last one cost So, she has
suddenly learned how to park. She
parks our 1948 sports coupe like
It was the Queens coach"
The high school courses teach,
too, that it is just as sportsman
like to be a good driver as to be
a good competitor in other things.
If your sight isn't good enough to
be at the wheel, you can not only
hurt other people but you stand a
chance of losing your own life,
It's silly, say the experts, to think
you can beat statistics.
Dpnrprnt pEr0nn