CHAPTER XIV

“CAN’T-SLIP HEELS” LESSEN SKIDDING

If your auto is not equipped with “Can’t-Slip Heels,” the green or pink plugged shock absorbers, the same as you wear on your own heels to keep from skidding over the sidewalk, perhaps it were well to look into it a little. Autos as well as men take to skidding quite easily, and not infrequently come to grief.

We use rubber heels to absorb shocks and jars just as we use rubber tires on the auto to absorb road shocks. We find in both instances that in wet weather the pavement becomes lubricated and a slip or skid is likely to result in damage to person or car. In the case of rubber heels it was found desirable to provide some means to prevent slipping, and plugs were inserted which grip the ice or slippery surface and hold fast. Tire manufacturers have developed all sorts of devices, such as projections and recesses, vacuum cups, etc., in the tread of the tire, to keep them from slipping. In one case the device has been very successful, where the manufacturer has inserted strips of cotton fabric in the tread of the tire, on the same principle as the plug in the rubber heels.

The fabric, really a thick canvas, projects a very little beyond the rubber surface, and gives the tire a better traction than plain rubber would have on a slippery pavement, and makes one of the best non-skid combinations. You doubtless will remember that rubbers worn smooth are more slippery than the leather heels with their nails; or that the rubber heels which have no plugs get very “slick” and are worse than nothing. It is exactly the same with rubber tires.

No matter with what non-skid device tires are equipped, there is always the danger of slipping when the pavements are wet or slushy, and the fact that such equipment is used should not make the driver think that he can drive at high speed with safety. On ordinary wet pavements very satisfactory results are obtained with most of the regular non-skid types of tires. Where ice or packed snow or surface mud is encountered, chains are better. In very deep mud, loose sand, or loose snow, heavy rope wrapped around the tire between the spokes will probably be found best. In an emergency, when caught out in the country, it might be necessary to cut up a blanket or find some other substitute for the rope.

When there is a telephone pole or post near at hand when the car becomes stuck in loose snow, sand, or deep mud, often the car may be pulled out if a tow rope long enough is handy. Fasten one end of the rope to the pole and the other to the forward part of the rear wheel. Then start the engine and if the rope is strong enough and it is stretched tight enough, as the wheel revolves it will start the car forward. Take a fresh hitch on the pole and try it again. A few inches at a time it will pull the car forward, a distance equal to about the diameter of the wheel, and in time get the wheel out of the rut or hole so that it may grip the solid earth again.

The flat steel stud tires are absolutely worthless on ice; they are good skates, but for gripping the ice they are failures.

The great majority of skids are due to excessive speed. The author has been told by a driver who drifted into another car and broke both headlights that he was only going ten miles an hour. This was probably true, but unquestionably he was going too fast for the condition of the streets and his tires. It is quite necessary that the driver should know how his car is going to behave under all conditions and drive accordingly.

Occasionally the crown of the road will cause a slip of front or rear wheels to the side that cannot be prevented by a reduction in speed; but the careful driver will at least drive slow enough under such conditions to make whatever damage might occur from this cause as light as possible. Wherever a road has a crown there is always increased danger of skidding, but often these roads that have a hard slippery section in the middle have a narrow strip of gravel or dirt on each side. Where this is the case it would be better to drive with one pair of wheels in the dirt rather than to keep in the middle, where slipping is almost unavoidable.

In other cases, where there is no dirt strip, it is perhaps better to keep right in the middle of the road and to use great caution in turning out for other vehicles.

Rounding a corner at high speed is, of course, a direct invitation for a very serious skid. Making sharp turns of the steering wheel on straightaway is also dangerous. When driving in traffic on slippery pavements, care should be taken not to follow another vehicle too close and to judge stops far enough in advance so that the car may be brought to a standstill, if necessary, several feet before the desired point is reached. In other words, the brakes should be applied very carefully.

In extreme cases it may be found impossible to apply the brakes at all without skidding, and it will be necessary to practically allow the car to drift to a standstill. Brakes which are adjusted so that one takes hold a little stronger than the other will also cause a skid, by permitting one wheel to turn and twist the car about.

When skidding does occur, about the only thing the driver can do is to turn the steering wheel in the direction of the skidding, with no pressure on the brake. This will correct the skid before damage is done, provided the speed is not too great. Another help in preventing skidding is to leave the clutch engaged and the engine pulling slightly when the brake is applied. Of course, before the car is actually brought to a standstill the clutch must be released, or the engine will stall. The slight pull of the engine when the brake is applied prevents the locking of the rear wheels, and in that way prevents skidding in a large measure.

On any stormy day a short tour of any of the much used avenues in any city will disclose a variety of machines which have had their skid and are against the curb with broken wheels, if nothing worse. It seems as though no amount of advice will teach the driver to use care on slippery pavements. He must have his own skid before he learns his lesson.

The season for skidding is always with us, however, and every patch of ice, or a frozen or wet street surface, or a muddy country road gives the warning “Drive Carefully.” It behooves the owner, therefore, to provide his car with the best safety devices to be had, whether it be chains, rope, tires with plugs which encircle the tread, or whatever may be necessary. He will do this if he has had his skid; if he hasn’t, probably no amount of advice will have the slightest effect upon him.