90 RULES OF THE ROAD little more expertness than the correction of an ordinary skid on a straight road. In Crossing Street Car Tracks and Climbing Out of Ruts.— Skidding can be prevented and accidents avoided, also the life of your tires lengthened, if you will learn how to turn your car out of street car tracks and ruts. Make a sharp turn of your front wheel. Do not allow the wheel to climb along the edge of the rut and finally jump off suddenly, and do not attempt to climb out of those conditions at high speed. Turning Corners at High Speed.-Driving a car around a sharp corner at twenty-five miles an hour does more damage to the tires than does fifteen or twenty-five miles of straight road work. This is an economical reason why one should drive around corners cautiously and slowly. The other reasons are obvious. Using the Motor as a Brake. The engine is a natural brake whenever the throttle is closed. Prove this for yourself in the following way. At a speed of twenty miles an hour, close the throttle and retard the spark, at a certain mark by the roadside, telegraph pole, for example. Don't throw out the clutch or the motor will have no braking effect. Now note how far you have traveled from the pole by the time your speedometer registers five miles. Then over the same road and at the same speed (20 m. p. h.) pass the pole again, but this time throw out the clutch. You will coast much farther this time before you drop down to five miles. Note the difference between this last mark and the first. This distance is proportional to the work done by the motor as a brake. By the same token the wear on your brakes will be lessened in this proportion if you let the motor help. In short, never throw your clutch out until you have dropped down to the lowest speed at which the car will run, say two or four miles an hour. If the grade is long and steep, use the foot and emergency brakes alternately. This equalizes the wear on them. A Car's Service Depends Upon the Driver.-Much of the satisfaction that an automobile gives depends upon the driver. If he neglects his automobile, if he does not lubricate it, or if he tinkers with it too much, he is bound to receive unsatisfac tory service. No machine can be absolutely automatic. All things must wear in time. The best preventive of wear, and the most certain thing for increasing the life of an automobile, is proper lubrication. Familiarize yourself thoroughly with all the lubricating points of your car. The oiling chart, Fig. 25, will show you where the important ones are located on most cars. Make the lubrication of your car as regular as is the eating of your meals. If you do this, you will not have any complaint to make of your car becoming noisy or of bearings wearing out. If you don't do it, you will not get the satisfaction from your car that you have expected. Coasting Mountain Roads.-Whenever you approach a long and steep grade it is best to put down the gear speed lever into first speed and allow the car to drift down on the motor. This is better than using the brakes. It gives you absolute control of the car at all times. Know Your Car.-Your satisfaction will be greatly increased if you will learn the details of your automobile. Learn to make the simple adjustments. Do not depend upon some one else to do that which is so simply done and which you can get such satisfaction in doing. There are no inaccessible parts that should interfere with ready adjustments. Familiarize yourself with every detail of the car as it is explained in this book and you will have greater confidence in venturing over any road at any distance from a repair station. The Cost of Speed. The law is just as immutable in that it collects as great cost for speed in a motor car as it does of any machine or of man. If you run fast, if you work hard, you require more food to sustain you. If you drive your car at a fast speed all the time, it requires more fuel-more gasoline and more oil. If you work fast and hard, you wear out more quickly, and so does an automobile. Tires, for instance, last twice as long on a car that is driven at fifteen miles an hour as they do upon cars that are driven at thirty miles an hour. Remember that the service your car gives you is as much dependent upon the manner in which you operate it as is your 92 RULES OF THE ROAD own health dependent upon the manner in which you care for it. Use of Headlights.-Do not use the electric headlights turned to the "bright" position when approaching or passing a car or other vehicle on a narrow road, unless you are traveling in the same direction. The light confuses them and may result in a serious accident. Never use a "spot light" except when neces sary for reading signs, etc. To Keep Water from Clinging to Windshield.—If you are in a climate where snow and sleet are a common feature of the weather, for any lengthy period, you can keep the windshield clean by wiping it over with a solution of water, glycerine and salt. The proportions are: 1 oz. water 2 ozs. glycerine Pour this on a piece of gauze and wipe the glass with all the strokes down. This will prevent raindrops or water in any form clinging to the glass. Carry a Complete Tool Equipment.-By all means have the necessary tools at hand to meet an emergency; even though you do not need them yourself, there is a certain amount of satisfaction in knowing that you are equipped to help a fellow motorist who is less careful in this respect. In changing a tire, a jack, pump, wrench, pliers, and sometimes a hammer, are necessities. If you do not have them with you, it may necessitate running many miles on the rim, ruining a good casing, damaging the rim, and perhaps loosening up the spokes in the wheel. Carry the tools in the tool roll supplied with the car, and wrap the jack and other tire tools in clean rags to prevent them rattling. A little oil should be rubbed on them occasionally to prevent rusting. It will often save soiling your gloves through handling dirty tools. If you are carrying spare tubes, keep them away from any grease and oil, which will injure the rubber. Do not pack them with the jack and other tools that are liable to chafe or cut them. Put them in bags, properly deflated and folded and covered with tale to prevent chafing. Tools for repairing mechanism and tires are described in Chapter IV. 96 TYPICAL 1917 CONTROL SYSTEMS CHAPTER III TYPICAL 1917 CONTROL SYSTEMS Points of Similarity-How to Discover Proper Lever Position-General Control Hints-Buick-Cadillac Eight-Chalmers-Cole Eight-DortDodge Brothers-Empire-Ford Model "T"-Haynes-Hupmobile Hudson Super Six-Hollier-King Eight-Kissel Kar-Maxwell-Marmon-Mitchell-National-Oakland Model 32-Oakland Model 50Overland 75-Overland 85-Packard Twin Six-Paige Pierce-Arrow— Reo Stearns-Knight-Studebaker-Scripps-Booth-Velie.TM IT must be evident to the reader that it would be extremely difficult to outline the control systems of all the automobiles at the present time because there are so many different makes which vary from each other in matters of minor detail. Fortunately, practically all cars have almost the same method of controlling the engine speed, changing the gear ratio and controlling the brake and clutch. The steering of all cars is accomplished by means of a hand wheel carried on an inclined steering column in front of the driver. The spark and throttle levers which are used to vary the engine speed are either carried above the steering wheel, at the top of the column, or are mounted immediately beneath it, one on each side of the steering post. Clutch and brake pedals have the same location in practically all cars. As a general thing the left pedal actuates the clutch and the right pedal the foot brakes. An additional means of regulating engine speed called the "accelerator" is usually placed close to the brake pedal so that it can be easily operated by the right foot. The gears are shifted by a handle, placed at the center of the car and intended to be operated by the river's right hand, on most automobiles. As sliding gears, used for changing vehicle speed, are operated on the selective system, there are many cars in which the change speed lever works the |