Can a 'Woman Drive ?

Ladies' Mirror, Volume 5, Issue 1, 1 July 1926, Page 61

Can a 'Woman Drive ?

zA?i dimeric an Uie'lv oj it. A THOUSAND people had their driving licenses revoked by the New York State Motor Vehicle Bureau between July 1, 1924, and January 15, 1925, we are told. Of the thousand, only twelve were women. However, statistics can be misleading, and it has occurred to Mr. Richard Adams to pry somewhat carefully into the question as to whether women are qualified to drive automobiles. It is frequently charged that they are not. Indeed, it was a recurrence of this accusation that set Mr. Adams to investigating, and he tells us in Liberty. The car ahead seemed weak in those qualities which make for decision of purpose. We had no ambitions to test our speed possibilities, but we would have liked to pass. The car out front kept to the middle of the road. There was a ditch on cither side, and we saw nothing desirable about cither of them. Experience teaches that the

open road is the place for the automobile, and little if any advantage lies in ditch wallowing. Close observation of the conduct of that car leading us indicated that the driver was sober. There was no serpentine evidence of alcohol in the chauffeura condition less preferable than water in the carburettor. With water in the carburettor a car will refuse to move. Eventually we came to crossroads, and our leader turned off to the right, leaving us free to pursue our way at an even pace. We saw the offending vehicle bucking along at all speeds from ten to thirty miles an hour. “There is no reason why a woman shouldn't drive as expertly as men, and the proof of what I say is found in the fact that, given the same amount of experience at a wheel, a woman has just as much chance of becoming expert as a man. “The only reason women are not even competitors with men in all things mechanical is that they have not been required to be. For every female moron, you’ll find one male incompetent. A woman can drive a car as capably as a man can. Thus armed with opinions, we went back to our friend who blamed that stupid driving on a woman, and offered to show him how unjust he was. “Oh, that’s all right,’’ he said, “I found out who was driving that car. It wasn’t a woman. It was the vicepresident of the Wahoo Motor-Car Corporation. He’s been driving a car for ten years, too.”