CHAPTER XV
MOTOR-DRIVING
By S. F. Edge and Charles Jarrott
The motor-car, when in the hands of a careful and experienced driver, is admittedly the safest form of vehicle on the road, the chief reason for this being the rapidity with which it can be stopped, even when travelling at high speeds, and also the ease with which under the same conditions it can be diverted from its course into the direction desired by the driver. These two points are known to nearly every well-informed person, and the knowledge really constitutes a danger to the unaccustomed controller of a car, as road conditions may entirely upset all the previous experience of the novice, and the apparently great simplicity of control inspiring confidence at much too early a stage of his novitiate, he may become a most dangerous user of the road, although driving the simplest form, or rather the most controllable form, of road vehicle.
Every action of starting, stopping, changing, and diverting should be absolutely automatic, and until this has become so slow speeds only should be attempted. A man may be perfectly able to perform all the special driving functions when not flurried, and when his attention is not disturbed by exciting events, but he may become hopelessly involved at the very moment when the greatest skill and judgment are required from him—for instance, when in an emergency the pedal brake ought to be applied, instead of pressing down this brake, which would at once stop the vehicle, he may hurriedly press down the accelerator pedal, which has the effect of increasing the
