She says. . .

Press, 25 September 1980, Page 19

She says. . .

The driver climbed back into his seat, let the door swing shut, and slowly turned onto the car-park’s down-ramp. As the car gathered speed towards the right-angled turn nt the foot of the ramp, he started to move his foot towards the brake. But his foot was firmly fixed to the floor.

Inexorably the car built up speed, surging towards the concrete wall at the foot of the ramp. That little drama ended with the driver being alert enough to declutch and slam on the handbrake, juddering to a halt within centimetres of disaster, The cause of the prob* lem was laughably simple: when the driver’s door swung shut, it trapped the cuff of his .trousers in the door jamb ... and held it fast.

The incident, related to me a couple of weeks ago, shows how easily a minor problem can lead to an accident, and it also shows how loose or flowing clothing can be a hazard toadriver. I have never forgotten the true story of how a famous dancer died when the trailing of her long

scarf blew over the side of die sports-car in which she was riding and became entangled in the rear wheel. Nor have I forgotten the much more recent and equally true tale of a woman who narrowly avoided a bad accident after her long beaded

necklace tangled in the steering-wheel, or the story of the woman who had an accident after her

kicked-off shoe lodged beneath the- brake pedal, or the case of the woman whose flowing sleeve caught in the controls and stopped her from turning

the steering-wheel af a vital moment.

Any clothing that can become tangled, snagged, or trapped in and around controls and doors can be a frightful danger when you are driving. The old advise about dressing suit-

ably for a trip remains good; comfortable clothing, that is not excessively loose-fitting, comfortable, flat-heeled shoes, no loose bracelets or strings of beads that can become tangled in controls. Also of course, no floppy hats that obscure vision, — Barbara Petre