DEMAND FOR SAFETY

Hawera Star, Volume LI, 28 May 1932, Page 12

DEMAND FOR SAFETY

DRIVING MADE EASIER. CONSTRUCTION OF NEW MODELS. New and varied methods of control have added to safety in operation of the motor-cars of 1932. This idea is prompted by a composite view of all cars following the mass presentation period of new models in automobile shows throughout the country. Statisticians in the employ of insurance companies estimate the economic loss due to accidents at 900,000,000 dollars annually. This is aside from 5,000,000,030 dollars by which it is calculated Ameri ca is a loser each year through traffic congestion and delays occasioned thereby-

A new demand for safety has arisen, which the manufacturers have sensed and are taking into consideration in the models they build. Thousands of potential car owners do not buy cars because of high insurance rates, because they are afraid to let the wives and children drive, or because in largo cities they can go faster and with less irritation by some other means of transportation, or because they cannot find a place to park. The changes the manufacturers have made to meet such conditions consist of universal adoption of four-wheel brakes with better brake lining and brake linkage of proved efficiency, bet ter transmissions that make easier and quicker shifting possible, lower centres of gravity that make cars less liable to overturn, steel body construction and the use of safety glass.

Steering is easier and a car’s response to the wheel is faster than before. The makers likewise have provided stronger frames, axles, steering knuckles, king pins and tie rods. which are better 'able to stand emergency road shocks. ]

With improved control making cars safer, has come easier driving, which reduces fatigue and accidents blamed on it. With a vauum-controlled clutch, to cite an instance, it is estimated that a driver avoids having to exert 731 b of foot pressure for each mile travelled. Such a calculation has been made by engineers who find that •an ordinary clutch pedal without the vacuum mechanism is operated at least five times per mile in city driving.