SAFETY IN DRIVING

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXV, Issue 154, 15 June 1935, Page 12

SAFETY IN DRIVING

The D?.nger of Comfort While motor manufacturers are exploring every avenue likely to lead to the building of more comfortable cars, it is interesting, and a little amusing, to sob that some people envisage danger in making cars too comfortable. In an address before the Greater New York safety conference, held recently, a delegate, who is vice-presi-dent of one of the largo truck manufacturing concerns,- said that cars could be so comfortable for their drivers aS to have a negative influence on their safe operation. “We can agree.” he observed, “that a graph of safety, as affected by drivers’ comfort, will show a very nice ascending curve up to a certain point. Beyond this point, it is questionable if added refinements would not induce the ’doze of death,” which we seek to avoid. Our job should be to provide enough comfort to prevent hpysical weariness and, at the same time', impose enough responsibility to prevent monotony and mental wear! ness.' ’ This is certainly n new point of view on the comfort question. But who among the car manufacturers is likely to lend as a reformer? Who is going to say of his car that it has “the right amount of discomfort to ensure that the driver remains mentally alert?” .