WOMAN AND HER CAR

Ladies' Mirror, Volume 2, Issue 3, 1 September 1923, Page 40

WOMAN AND HER CAR

SPARKING PLUG

IN the first place any girl can drive a car, but if we arc to believe all the newspaper reports through any one year, in which are recorded all the accidents that befall girl drivers, apparently not every girl can drive a car wall. And T am supposing that the girl who may read this, who has just come into the possession of an auto or has been promised one by "dad" for future delivery, is really anxious to drive her car just as expertly as it is possible to drive it. That agreed between us, we can settle down and talk it over as girl to girl, so to speak. To begin with, those little roadside incidents that stopped the wheels and that used to dot the landscape with woeful feminine countenances, when a carburettor went bad, or a tire blew out, or a spark plug failed to spark, or a magneto was suddenly taken sick, are almost as rare as the dodo. In a word, a motor car nowadays is just about as "foolproof" as a piece of machinery without a mind of its ow can be. Carburettors don't go bad all of a sudden any more; spark plugs are different animals from what they were ten or even five years ago; magnetos don't kick up ordinarily unless you deliberately soak them in water; and the demountable rims that are now available for, if they are not originally a part of, every ear have taken most of the labour out of "tire trouble." Despite the " foolproof ness" of the run of motor cars to-day, however, my first injunction to the new girl owner sf one is: Don't poke around the insides of your machine. If anything does "go bad" have it made good by the agency from which the car was purchased, or, if not, by a reliable repair man. Of course, the demonstrator of the car you happen to buy will give you your first three or four lessons, and then will leave you to your own devices. Then it is all up to you. It's your moment, and whether you are going to become panicky or prove yourself to be a self-confident, independent, resourceful and intelligent New Zealand girl, the next hour will determine. You will recall, in a, flood, the things he told you not to do, but you will have difficulty in bringing to the surface of your mind the things he told you to do. Here comes in your resourcefulness. Your engine is running. The gears are in neutral. You are standing still. Oh, yes, you have it now Throw out the clutch; shift the gears to first speed; let in the clutch —— " There, you let it in too quickly and your engine is stalled. Do it over.

Now that the engine is running again, after the proper manipulation of the starter, or of the crank if your car happens not to have a selfstarter, let your clutch in gently after you had it "out" while you place the gears in position for first speed a second time. You never make that mistake again, will you? You're running now. Press down on your clutch pedal again as far as it will go, shift your gear lever to the second position and release the pressure on that clutch pedal. Now you're running a little faster —on second speed. Press with your right foot on the little accelerator that permits a greater flow of gasoline, and, as your speed increases, press down again on that clutch pedal; at the same time shift the gears again, this time into the third speed, release gently the pressure of your foot on the clutch pedal, and you're in third speed and really driving. Now give a little more gas to maintain your speed. There, that wasn't so terribly hard, was it? Your grip on the steering wheel is now probably equal to that of a drowning man on a plank; it doesn't need to be so tight —just firm. When you are first learning to drive don't look back over your shoulder and smile at the earful that just passed you. Your job for the next few days is watching the road; not alone the road ahead, but the cross streets. I cannot strongly enough emphasise the actual need of your driving slowly. Twelve miles an hour, or fifteen at the outside, is fast enough for any girl to drive a ear during the first month of her operation of it. Please let that sink into your mind. And always drive 150 feet ahead of your car. T realise you 're puzzled over that sentence, but let me explain: it is the one best rule for all motor-car driving, whether by a girl or a man. It means to keep your eye constantly on the road 150 feet ahead of the hood if you can. That number of feet leeway will give you time to swing out if an unseen car issues from a side street masked by a hedge; it gives you time to measure your distance in passing another car going or coming; and when the pavement is slippery it may be the one observed rule that saves you from an accident. It is a rule for the open road and the residence section; of course it cannot be adhered to in traffic driving, but in that you are compelled to go slowly, and the result is the same.