The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1956-08-24
FREE
WHEELING
BY
BILL cROWELL

to the State Department of Motor
Vehicles. Like the intense teen
ager (Jimmy CO. who wrote in to
inquire as it against the law to
driv. barefoot" If you're looking
Jimmy here's the answer. No!
Highway troopers are disinterest-
ed in your footwear. They are in
terested in the way you drive. And
the Motor Vehicle Manual, a col
orful booklet of automotive dos
and dont's, discloses no indication
that barefoot driving is illegal.
BEEP, BEEP, But check
yourself on another little known
rule in the manual that declares
it's all wrong to pass another car
on the open highway without toot-
ing your horn.
PATROL BABIES It's not
unknown in the ranks of the State
Highway Patrol for troopers to as
sist the stork. Several such Incl
dents have become a part of pa
troll lore, usually because Mama
and Papa started too late for the
hospital. En- route Papa suddenly
finds himself confronted with an
emergency, dissolves into panic,
and oftentimes seeks help from a
cruising highway trooper. But ev-
en- speedy patrol cars occasionally
lose a race with the stock. All Of
which points up a delightful quote
on such matters from Major D. T.
Lambert of Raleigh who is in
charge of an upcoming patrol
training school. Said the major:
"We may have to teach them
thing or two about it"
DRAG RACING Official
approval of drag racing strips
isn't likely to be forthcoming, de-
spite number of letters to the
editor appearing in newspapers re-
Gently declaring ominously that
"unless we get drag strips there
will be racing on the highways"
A drag strip is a quarter-mile or
so of space, unobstructed by such
hindrances as family cars and pc
destrians, where two drivers try
desperately to outrun each other
in souped-up or stock cars.
Cars unable to achieve 100 miles
an hour, we are told, are "clunk-
ers." And plenty of "clunkers" are
eager to move up in the high
speed limelight by challenging
others to race. If there's no track
around, the highway works fine.
Which is why enforcement Off
Gals have turned thumbs down on
all forms of drag racing in North
Carolina. Supervised or otherwise.
The powerful International Asso-
citation of Chiefs of Police has OPP
posed them. Also in California,
where drag racing incubated, au-
thorities refuse to sanction or 9TH
erwise approve them as they once
did.
Motor Vehicles Commissioner
Ed Scheidt, a long time foe of
speeding, has said one of the most
effective ways to stop drag racing
is "a cooperative public ready to
report individuals participating in
the races and willing to take the
stand to testify against them"
Want to get in line?
SOBER THAWT The hand
that lifts the cup that cheers
should not be used to shift the
gears.
BRIEFS -. 14-inch wheels are
expected to appear on most ST
model cars . and at least one Of
the new models will sport four
headlights . married folks are
involved in far fewer traffic acct
dents than bachelors or spinsters
according to recent survey :.
impact from a 100 mph collision is
the same as driving off 33 story
building Medical Associa-
ton of California suggests that
teen-agers be permitted to drive
only during daylight hours 100
cars month are stolen in North
Carolina but SO are eventually re-
covered .. hit a pedestrian in
San Salvador and you stay in Jail
until the victim RECEIVERS.
HOT SEAT The whammy
has been whammiedi A bolt of
lightning did it. aPtrolman Glenn
Russell of Cary was operating the
speed detecting device on US / re-
Gently when lightning struck a
nearby tree. A stray charge flash
ed down the whammy cable and
into the patrol car where Russell
was at work. Momentarily stun
ned, the trooper later examined
himself and found dime-sized bis
tiers on his hands and, ahem-
where he sits. The freak accident,
authorities think, was caused by
tiny metal strands interviewer in a
seat cushion the trooper was sit
ting on which made good ground
for the miscreant charge.