Boy and Girl Drivers.
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By "The Inspector."
1 remember, some while ago, quite an interesting discussion, to which publicity was given in several journals, ournals, on both the possibility and desir
ability 9f making a motor vehicle fool-proof. Some exception was taken, I recall, by not' a few, letter writers, to the intention of the word" fool-proof,". the, alternative expression most favoured being,,that of "driver-proof." The idea was thatsiniere -carelessness and; lack of the mechanical sense did not necessarily prove the offender to be a fool. I prefer the alternative, I must admit. Mechanical vehicles, and particularly those intended for use for commercial purposes, should be so designed as to be capable of reasonably easy operation by a driver of no more than little,: skill, as well as by one who has neither the instinct nor the 'inclination to make small adjustments or even to use an oil can or a cleaning rag. with effect. Too -mtich thought cannot possibly be given, in the design stage of vehicle creation, to this consideration.
am firmly of opinion, however, that the designer is nbt yet born who can render a chassis effectively proof against the fool' It is all very well to take into careful account ascertained schedules of probable running costs, but such preliminary consideration is relatively of little value, if still more thought is not bestowed upon the mental capacity' and the character generally of the man or the woman who is to preside at the wheel. The difference in the all-in mileage costs between the performances of two drivers may prove to be of most serious import. Given identical machines on identical employment, one driver may bring disaster continuously with him, the other may show exceptional savings on transport costs. Almost as much rests with the driver as with the machine. The very best chassis, with a bad driver, will give bad results, foolproof as it may be. A very bad machine is of no use at all with even the best driver. , There was, before the war, a growing tendency to induce Purchasers of commercial vehicles of all kinds on the score that the particular machine offered could be driven by _fools, or thereabouts, a very dangerous suggestion anda very untrue one. No machinery designed and made by human effort should be entrusted to the care of the halfwitted. It is not fair to the machine ; it is rank bad policy, for the owner. Such encouragement is definitely "asking for trouble " for the manufacturer and for the reputation of the industry as a whole.
We have now arrived at a stage when substitutes are the rule, and precious Poor material many: of them are; the valuable exceptions are few. This is a state of affairs which can hardly be avoided, but the relatively poors results accruing in so many cases should at least be turned to educational account. The machines should not be blamed unnecessarily, but the desirability of dispensing with unsuitable boy and girl care of them should be emphasized for remedy so soon as the opportunity occurs.
It has to be remembered that a Toed steersman is not infrequently a very poor driver. • Capacity to do circus tricks on. an Auto-Carrier is of far less value than the inclination to screw up grease caps and to keep the. air gauze or filters clean. Many a privatecar steersman is dubbed "a fine driver" without the slightest justification. I know quite a number of men and a few girls who can back at high speed into an awkward garage and would equally cheerfully do
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so with a big-end out or a flywheel-knock. One of the best of the early L.G.O.C. "drivers," in the sense that he had retained his famous capacity' for imperturbable tooling of a pair of bus horses to half-an-inch through crowded City thoroughfares, to My knowledge, drove from Liverpool Street half-way to Barnes with a big-end gone anclnot Much more than a breath of oil in the crankcase without realizing he was harming the machine. He was quite annoyed, I was told, when he was suspended. He was a fine steersman and a rank bad driver. To-day there are hundreds of him. Before peace comes there will be many hundreds more.
Not the least disconcerting fact is the recent L.G.B. decision to allow boys of 16 to "drive," save tne mark. [We refer this contributor to our second editorial article—Ea]. lam-concerned to think that this may lead to perpetuation of the idea that machines are fool-proof. We can only harm the industry by continuous suggestion that there is no particular standard that need be set to drive a lorry or a van. It takes skill to milk a cow or kill a pig ; neither is fool-proof. It may be conceded that there is no particular risk of brain fever in learning to hold a steering wheel or in knowing which way to turn it if you want to go to the left, in knowing that the clutch should be used, to facilitate gear changing. That it is easy and requires no great standard of human intelligence is proved by' the tens of thousands who have learned to drive in war time. But there is skill in knowing how best to save your engine by judicious and timely gear changing, in the alternative use of brakes, in saving the tires, petrol, and the whole fabric of the machine from unnecessary wear and tear and in the proper adjustment of adjustable parts, in tha use of oil can and of grease.
No! poor drivers are no economy. The fact that we are having to use them now is merely on a par with the impressment of mush other indifferent labour in war time. And it is devoutly to be hoped that there will be no post-pacem policy of retaining much of the boy and girl labour on this class of work, which, from its very freedom from all-time supervision, has attracted such a lot of indifferent labour. The proper policy is that of the C.M.U.A., which does its best to raise the status of the driver in many ways. If the skilled man has to be paid more, he is worth it in the end.
Youngsters of either sex, and particularly girls, are not on the whole suited for the responsibility, to say nothing of the physical labour involved. There is a tendency for the boys to disregard all rules of the road and whenever possible to get the last ounce out of the engine, Whereasfew girls will develoP sufficient mechanical sense to take anything but a purely superficial interest in the machines they drive. The war ended, we -shall be swamped with experienced drivers, and disciplined ones, too ; they should beturned to fullest account. Make the best of the boys and girls who are keeping the wheels turning while the war continues, but on no account be tempted to continue the incompetents among them when their betters are available. To do so will set back the industry at a very critical and very promising time in its history.