TOO MANY DRIVERS?
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By The inspector.
IHAVE ALWAYS rather prided myself that I have rarely sought a bubble reputation as a prophet. Indeed, the war made that profession a by no means enviable one, in respect of accomplishment. Yet, from time to time, I find it very difficult to resist quoting the familiar rebuke "What did I tell you ?" I am going to indulge myself in this direction this week. In the issue of The Commercial Motor dated October 17th, 1918, I drew, an arrow at the exceptional activity that was being shown at that time with a view to training numberless men and women as mechanical transport drivers. I then suggested, and my suggestion met with quite a deal of approval, 'which I did not anticipate, in various quarters, that there was a great danger that the result of these intensive-training activities would be, sooner or later, to flood the market with a superfluity of chauffeurs and drivers.
Your Country Needed You. .
All kinds of training institutes, as to whose executive capacity .I am. afraid I must confess ton tittle knowledge, were, a year or more ago, clamouring for the guineas of would-be drivers, and utilizing extensive propaganda to prove, in advance, the lucrative,. and comfortable nature of certain employment as a man, woman, or boy in charge of any old kind of motor vehicle—that "your country needs you" and all that sort. of thing; That was at the time when thousands of women in particular were jumping at the opportunity to take on work rendered available by the absence of the usual male population ; wark as motor drivers that appealed to them as pleasant, as not being without its possibilities of social advent 'age, and as bringing in a by no means negligible weekly salary. There was also a large quota of men, unable, for some reason or other, to render military service, :who, 'not unnaturally, Sought this as a more or less agreeable way of earning a living—more agreeable than serving behind a counter or sitting at a desk, anyhow.
Almost Anyone Can Steer.
The cumulative result of all this intensive training is, already, now more than apparent. Iudeed,. there are far too many drivers. But I would hasten to add that there are, by no means, far too . many good drivers. Tens of thousands of people learned to drive during the war, and a large proportion of these never became anything better than more or less accomplished performers at the steering wheel. The proportion who could go further than that, and who were able, by instinct, to take charge of the mechanism of a machine, whether it were of the pleasure or commercial typo, to ensure its proper maintenance and its effective repair in a small way, was a very small one. To-day there are, literally, thousands of men, and I care not to think how many women. who, not many months ago, felt fairly confident of their future careers in charge of one or more motor vehicles, who have either given up the idea altogether and. turned to other means of earning their living, or who, tired in the search for such employment, are contemplating such a decision at an early date. • e50
The Chassis and the Sewing Machine.
As a matter of fact, many of tneee learners—particularly the women—of some months ago hugged themselves in the belief that, once they had learned to hold a steering wheel, they had qualified as very important members of the community, but, had they paused to think, they would have understood that the ability merely to steer a. vehicle was evidence of no great technical -skill, and, indeed, was only what any reasonable person gifted with common sense and physical ability could accomplish. They would have foreseen that, unless they were prepared to fit themselves for a far. more comprehensive knowledge of the mechanism than the ability to wear a peaked cap implies, they would have nothing of value to offer a prospective employer. A little consideration readily shows the fact that there is nothing very wonderful about the ability to drive a motor vehicle in these days. Were it otherwise, we should not see the tens of thousands of people touring all over the country behind one and another type of steering wheel or handlebar that we do. It would be a bad day for the, motor,ve.hicle if it were more difficult t,.0 operate than, shall I say, a sewing maehine. Mere ability to steer and to control a chassis, providing that all is well with, the mechanism, is surely no evidence of skill in these days. As a skilled occupation, I am afraid that driving in itself has no great status. There is a great difference, however, when one comes to consider the claims of a, man or woman who can take full responsibility for remedying small mishaps and for diagnosing. petty trohbles.
What Has Become of the Women ?
It is interesting to speculate as to what has become if the many thousands of women drivers who found songenial occupation of this kind during the war. It must be confessed that the majority of these, while exhibiting skill at the wheel, faded altogether to assimilate any real mechanical knowledge. One recalls all kinds of first-hand tales, gleaned from trustworthy sources, of the troubles that arose when very slight derangements took place on many of the cars driven by W.R.A.F., R.A.S.C., 111.T., and other uniformed women. What has become of all these to-day ? Ono never sees a women in charge of a lorry, fo: instance, and 'very seldom, indeed, in charge of a light van, although, of course, there is a certain number of women drivers employed in the latter way and mostly in London. So far as touring cars are concerned, of course, the cases are slightly diffenent, and there are many women who were driving during the war who will continue their, taste for it. With their own or their father's or husband's ears it is still a new experience to many of them. But, as a career for women, , one does not feel much confidence in the present situation or in future prospects. Certainly, there is nothing at the moment to encourage euperficial education as a motor driver with a view to securing a high rate of remuneration. , There are already far too many people who can drive; and drive only, for anything but a proportion of them. to earn a living in that way. The skilled driver-mechanic is, of cosine, in a class by himself. The danger suggested a year or two ago has , proved, for once in a way, that it is possible, even in these days, and on rare occasions, to prophesy with some degree of confidence.