The Motor

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 20, 24 January 1924, Page 15

The Motor

■V "AUTOS"

INSPECTION OF BRAKES

It is commonly known that defective brakes are the cause of many motor accidents, and in densely motorised New \r ork inspection of brakes by special police has thrown a searchlight on the condition of the brakes on many cars.

Inspection of motor-car brakes is proving to be the'most important factor in the effort to reduce automobile accidents, according to Barron Collier, Special Deputy Commissioner in charge of the Bureau of Safety. The bureau has just closed its first year's work, and during the last twelve months 73,635 motor vehicles on the city streets have been inspected. Of this number 10,517 had one defective brake, and the drivers were required to report back with the defective brake fixed for reinspection. In 2239 cases both brakes were defective, and the drivers were fined, the penalty usually being 25 dollars.

When the bureau was opened last' November, Mr. Collier insisted that poor brakes were responsible for many accidents. He organised a brake inspection .squad to see that braking conditions throughout the city were improved. It consisted of ten uniformed policemen. They were told to stop drivers of cars, particularly of the heavy type, make running tests of brakes and steering Sgears, and, if found faulty, to see that both were put in good condition.

National attention has been directed to the work of the Brake Squad. Unthoughtof before Mr. Collier introduced it into the New York City Police Department, its operations have been watched by many police departments in the country. Recently the- National Safety Council issued a bulletin describing the working of the squad, and sent it tgjPc-lice departments in the principal cities of ,the United States. Various police chiefs have visited the local Bureau of Safety' headquarters to learn, about the Brake Inspection Squad. Lieutenant Martin A. Nopnah, who for many years was in the Motor-cycle Division of _ the Police Department, and an expert in automobile safety* is in charge of the squad. The inspectors travel in pairs. Their method is first to signal an approaching truck -or other motor vehicle to stop. One man then gets on the seat of the cai" by the driver, and, -under his instruction, will proceed to start and then stop, the' patrolman making a note of the distance it takes the oar to stop under various speeds, At a speed of ten miles per hour a car, to pass the test, must stop within! nine feet; at fifteen miles, within twenty feet; at twenty miles, within thirty-l seven f eat; and twenty-five miles per hour, within fifty-eight feet. This test is made with both the foot and the emergency brakes, aud if either brake will not stop the car within these dirtancea at the speeds indicated the brake is considered defective.

If only one-brake is defective, a ticket is given to the driver, and he is required to report back to the inspector at a designated point within three days for a reinspection. If both brakes are found defective, not only is the car required to be placed in the nearest garage by the driver, but he also receives a summons to Court and is prosecuted under the Highway Act for operating a car on the streets with defective brakes.

"The driver of an automobile who neglects his brakes and operates a Heavy truck or other mbtor vehicle on the congested streets of the city of New York without adequate braking power is just as dangerous as a speed maniac," Commissioner Collier says. "He should receive as severe a penalty as the law allows.

"Early in the life of the bureau we saw that strict enforcement of the State laws requiring adequate brakes on automobiles was necessary to the- elimination of accidents. It was obvious that many accidents involving both injuries to persons and damages to vehicles could be prevented by bringing about a better observance of this law.

"Even though a child, with reckless abandon, rushes out into the street within a few feet from the front of an approaching automobile, an accident under these circumstances could frequently be prevented .by prompt action on the part of the driver of the car in bringing his car to a stop. However, if his brake lining is worn and the brakes do'not hold properly, the car cannot be stopped quickly enough. "The same thing would be true if a careless pedestrian stepped out into the street in the middle of the block without looking or was in any other manner careless—the pedestrian in this case, of course, would be to blame, but the driver of the car with defective brakes, not having his. car under such control as would prevent an accident, contributed to by the person on foot, is criminally careless. In other words, the fact that a- pedestrian might be careless does not excuse an automobile driver who also is careless or reckless.

"The condition of some of these heavy motor 'tracks is highly dangerous. I recall one case in particular. , One of our brake inspectors signalled a five-ton track coming down a hill on Amsterdam avenue, and after receiving the policeman's signal to stop, it took the driver more than a block and a half to stop. He did \ not have a brake on his car." How couldhe have prevented crashing into another car at the street intersection at the foot, of the hill had one just happened to cross his path? "Another serions thing is the overloading of trucks. Even when a truck has brakes that are in good condition, if a five-ton truck, for instance, carries seven or eight tons, as is frequently done, it is impossible to stop within a safe distance even though the brakes may be perfect.

"Law violations are not confined to truck drivers. Owners of many passenger cars fail to keep their brakes in good condition. This is not only illegal, but it is highly dangerous to the owner. Poor brakes may not only cause his car to ran into another vehicle or injure some one, but they may cause an injury to himself. Self-preservation, if nothing else, should cause every owner of a motor ; car to inspect his brakes often, and keep them in good condition."

That the Brake Inspection Squad is needed in the campaign for public street safety and to- teach many drivers, both careless and callous, a salutary . lesson, is indicated by the following cases from the files of the Safety Bureau: 1. The driver of a commercial truck was summoned to Court in Brooklyn. Marcus A. Dow, executive secretary of the bureau, was in Court, and this driver with twenty-five others, was called before the Bench, and at the request of the Judge he delivered a safety lecture. The Judge fined them all for defective brakes. A week later one driver was again caught, and, as inspection showed that his brakes had not been repaired, ho wa3 brought into Court as a second offender, fined 50 dollars, and sentenced to threfi days in gaol. 2. A man was observed driving a truck .me. J orfi_>T£n»si tis-mms _fe« pse

side to the other. Two men working on the squad stopped him, and found that both his brakes were defective. In talking he appeared irrational. He said he had to be in California that afternoon, and had to catch a train at once and offered the patrolman half a million dollars to let him go. He was sent to Bellevue for observation, and found to be mentally incompetent. His license was revoked. 3. A test showed that not only did a car have no brakes, but also the steering mechanism was defective. The Judge gave the driver thirty days in eaol— ten days for driving a car with defective brakes, and twenty days for the defective steering mechanism.

4. The driver of a passenger car failed to stop eight feet away from a street car that had stopped to discharge passengers. When summoned Jot that violation, his excuse was that his brakes did not hold. " Thereupon he" was fined for operating a car with defective brakes in addition to the violation of the eightfoot law.

5. It was found that the, foot brake was correct, but the emergency brake would not hold. The driver was ordered to come back within three days with the emergency brake repaired. He protested that .he never used-the emergency brake, and did not see why it should be repaired. He protested so vehemently that the patrolman took away the inspection ticket and issued a summons. ■ TK'patrolman felt that the driver would'not take the trouble to make the repairs as directed. Ho was convicted.

6. The driver of a car was summoned to Court for bad brakes. He had only one eye. Lieutenant Noonon was in Court and called attention to the fact that the man had only one eye. The Judge said he had no jurisdiction in the matter and only fined him for defective brakes. Two weeks later the same driver struck arid killed a boy who ran in front of his truck, cominc from the side where the driver was blind in one eye. ITie driver was held for homicide This case, says Mr. Collier, shows the need of more stringent regulations in the issuing of licenses to drivers who are not physically fit to drive. '

On Friday of each week in the Traffic Court, alleged violators are called before the Magistrate, and if they all plead guilty, they receive the same fine One day sixty cases of defective brakes were in the Traffic Court.