Atlanta Daily World

INSPECT 'UNCHECKED CARS,' JUDGE URGES

EVANSTON, ILL. — With summer travel reaching a new high, and the record-breaking 519 highway deaths of the last July Fourth weekend in mind, a veteran traffic court judge has urged drivers of "unchecked cars" to have them serviced for safety immediately as a basic precaution.

Speaking from the court in the city which pioneered the traffic safety movement and has repeatedly achieved national records for accident prevention, Judge Harry H. Porter, chief justice of Evanston's Municipal Court, declared a "safety-checked motor vehicle is a fundamental start to safe travel."

The judge explained that only 18 of 50 states have compulsory vehicle safety-check programs.

The remainder are on a "voluntary" basis. The big "unknown quantity" consists of those drivers who did not have their cars checked. Judge Porter said. Are their cars in safe driving condition?

"We hope that now, on their own initiative, these unknown owners of possibly unsafe cars will check them and, if necessary, take steps to put them in safe operating condition," he urged. "The Auto Industries Highway Safety Committee did a commendable job last spring of encouraging limited test activity on millions of cars in most of the 32 states which do not have periodic inspection in official lanes or garages. But these safety-checks were primarily spot-checked to alert motorists to obvious hazards.

For example, consider one of the ten items — the simple but vital windshield wiper. Perhaps the most important factor relating to driving safely and prevention of accidents is that of driver visibility. Yet all that most lanes were able to check was to see if the wiper motor could move the blade across the glass."

If the blade rubber is dried out from exposure, or if springs in the wiper arms are weak from prolonged use, the wiper just smears or streaks as it moves back and forth across the windshield. Windshield streaks obscure the driver's vision and tire his eyes. Judge Porter said.

In some cases it's like suddenly losing your eyeglasses. Studies show that on 60 out of 100 cars older than one year, the wiper arm pressure is too weak to provide clear wiping of rain, sleet, snow, or road-muck spray. Even a new blade does not alone correct this condition if the arm pressure is too weak. Some wiper arms are adjustable, others may need to be replaced. Adequate arm pressure and live rubber in the blades give streak-free windshield wiping like new again. Most drivers don't know about the importance of wiper arm pressure, according to service station and garage men with whom Judge Porter has talked, nor do they realize that 90 per cent of all driving decisions depend on good sight and visibility.