Driving

“ Driving is not knowledge of how to hold the reins, how to give the "offices" to make "points," etc., but real driving is the knowledge and practical experience of all those things which come before you get up on to your vehicle at all. The writer was seated beside the driver of an omnibus in London some ten years ago, at a time when everything pertaining to the handling of horses in harness was a keen interest. The heavy buss with its load of passengers was stopped and started and guided through the heavy traffic of Piccadilly without fuss or trouble and without jar to the passengers. ”

“ In teaching any one to drive, particularly children, this point cannot be too much emphasized. The eyes, so to speak, should be in the boat, or in equine parlance on the horse, the whole livelong time,—from the moment you take up the reins till some one has the horse's head at the end of the journey. Lacking this fundamental axiom of all driving, everything else goes for nothing. ”

“ When driving on greasy roads it is always well to keep as far away as possible from any vehicle in front, whether it be a motor-car, a horse-drawn vehicle, or a cycle, as this allows plenty of time to pull up slowly and gradually. ”

“ This is of the utmost importance in driving in the city streets, where you may find yourself in serious trouble if, through inattention, you have driven well into trouble, before planning to stop. Your horse's nose, or your pole, has poked into another horse or vehicle, or you are obliged to pull up so suddenly that you throw your horse, or horses down.
In America, where we turn to the right, pull well over to your own side and slow down before you get to the street corner around which you wish to go, whether to the right or left. ”

“ It was soon evident that my friend's ideas of driving probably coincided with his ideas of going up a mountain. When a mounted cowboy climbs a hill he does not believe in fussing with such nonsense as grades; he goes straight up. Similarly, this man evidently considered that, as roads were made for travel and distance for annihilation, one should turn on full speed and get there. Not one hair's breadth did he deign to swerve for chuck-hole or stone; not one fractional mile per hour did he check for gully or ditch. ”

“ In passing such a light the eyes should be kept on the road and shielded, if possible, from the glare of the other machine. The precaution of driving slowly under such circumstances goes without saying.
Unlighted Vehicles. —Unlighted, horse-drawn vehicles, bicycles, and animals driven or walking in the street frequently give the automobile driver palpitation of the heart. ”

“ There are many other forms of careless or reckless driving that might be mentioned, such as, driving too close in heavy traffic, cutting in on traffic—“stealing the road,” turning in the middle of a city block, attempting to turn in too small a space, failure to go slowly near a school house or children’s play ground, failure to be on the lookout for playing children elsewhere, failure to try to anticipate what the other fellow is going to do.
The Car. —The car itself may be the cause of accidents. ”

“ Shorten your reins, decrease your pace, and whether it is driving in the traffic of the street or at your own door, slow up gradually. You can tell with certainty whether a man knows his business by the way he starts and stops. If you have stopped as you should, the horse is not sitting in the breeching, with his collar sliding toward the top of his head; but horse and vehicle are stopped, and yet the horse and the vehicle and harness are all in position to go on again without a jerk. ”

“ The most skillful driving did not prove skillful enough to guide the staggering oxen through the way provided by the road-makers; and the constant tendency of a forward wheel to run up a tree, on one side or the other, was very trying to the drivers. ”

“ The distortions of face, hands, and body, through trying to do simple things in an awkward and roundabout way; the mixing up of whip, hands, and reins, through not having toiled sufficiently over the elementary stages of the art of driving; the brake on or off when it should not be, and a complete loss of head, the horses any way, and their owner in roseate confusion, are phases of the driving for punishment one often sees. ”

“ En route we encountered a perfectly horrible stretch of road—great, mucky ruts that almost stalled the car—and in the midst of it an oil well, or the flaring industry of driving one. There was a great towering well frame in the air, a plunger, a forge, an engine, and various flaring torches set about and men working. ”

“ The fundamental principles of tandem driving are much the same as four-in-hand driving, except that the horses turn more quickly, and with less pressure on the reins, especially in the case of the leader. The reins, too, are closer together in the hand, making the fingering more difficult, and the handling of a spirited leader is perhaps as difficult and nice a task as any form of driving affords. ”

“ In the early stages of driving, it is as well always to leave this down when ascending steep hills, so that in the event of the novice missing his change of speed, or if through any other cause the car tried to run backwards, it would be arrested in its early movement and damage obviated. ”

“ I am fond of rapid driving, but sometimes it made me rather nervous to dash at the rate of eight miles an hour, within two feet of a precipice down which we looked upon the tops of trees a thousand feet below. There is, however, very little danger, as where the descent is steep, the driver can, in a moment, by putting his foot upon a spring at his side, cramp the wheel, and check our speed. ”

“ It is quite too funny about driving, too. You may go out with a man in a sleigh, but you couldn’t possibly go with him on wheels–on the same road, at the same hour, same man, same everything, except the wheels. You agree to go out next week in a sleigh with Mr. Vancouver; but when the day comes, if it has happened to thaw and there is no snow, and he comes in a buggy, you couldn’t possibly go with him, because it would be quite too improper. ”

“ In modern times, notwithstanding the sneers directed against gentlemen-coachmen and driving-clubs, it is to them chiefly that this country is indebted for the present excellent state of the roads, and for safe and expeditious travelling. The taste for driving produced, between men of property and those connected with the road, an intercourse which has been productive of the best results. ”

“ This principle can be applied to the subject of driving as well, if not better, than to most others. To drive one horse, over one road, day in and day out, becomes a weariness to the flesh, instead of a refreshment. If you have only one horse, you can at least both ride him and drive him. If you have two, you can drive them abreast as a pair, or one in front of the other as a tandem, and both [356] can be ridden. As soon as your stable enlarges to four, you can have no end of variety if care and patience are exercised. ”

“ These principles are common to all branches of the art of driving, whether of one, two or four horses. When they are observed no great difficulty confronts the coachman who is content with single or double harness, provided he has acquired the eye for pace and distance, and the instinctive realization of the length of the carriage behind him, without which he may suffer collision with other vehicles, or allow insufficient room in turning a corner or entering a gateway. ”

“ Even if pressed for time, always use precaution, for in driving, as in other phases of life, you will find it much easier to keep out, than to get out, of grief!
[10]
RULE V.
DESCENDING A HILL.
In going down a hill, steady and feel the weight of the carriage you have behind you; go off the top as quietly as you can, for you will discover before you get half way down, if it is at all a steep hill, the impetus will be so much increased, that you will have quite enough to do, to keep your coach steady and your horses under control. ”

“ There was no more easy driving now. Cyril and Paschics spent the greater part of the night in walking up and down interminable hills, sometimes dragging the horses on, sometimes holding them back, and varying these occupations by pushing at the cart behind, or lifting the wheels out of pits of mud. ”

“ Because instead of yielding entirely and freely to the seat of the carriage first, and then to its motion, you try to help the horses, or to hold yourself still while the carriage is moving. A man should become one with a carriage in driving, as much as one with his horse in riding. ”

“ On the whole, to a man who has had any driving experience at all, and who chooses a proper car, most particularly if it is a new one, the trip will not present any difficulties. And the experiences he may have will prove an incomparable school for his driving and for his ability to tackle new problems with the means at hand. ”

“ If every woman and man who drove a car followed these suggestions there would not be an outcry against the motor-car. Unfortunately the great majority of motorists have to suffer for other people’s faults—the disgraceful driving of the few. ”

“ If he happened to be the one driving, and stuck out his wing to let the Traffic know he was going to turn a corner in due season provided he did not stall his engine, his wife would tell him that it was not customary nor necessary to injure one’s spine hanging so far over the side of the car. ”

“ It is surprising to find that if a man who has been used to driving cars which go slowly up-hill changes to a high-powered car the temptation to rush down-hill vanishes. One's view of the road is reversed. ”

“ Scene opens and discovers street-car driving furiously along, drawn by two chestnut acquaintances. Conductor and driver represented by two small boys. Car composed of lounge, clothes-horse, and two chairs, judiciously arranged and draped; wheels of band box-lids or circular tea-trays. Noise of car simulated by confederates outside shaking sleigh-bells or hand-bells, and drumming on door with fingers and hand; also rattling on floor with feet. [Pg 285]
Enter some passengers, running and hailing car. ”

“ In testing the driving qualities, take the reins while on the ground, invite the owner to get in the vehicle first, then drive yourself. Avoid the display or the use of the whip; and if he has not sufficient spirit to exhibit his best speed without it, reject. Should he drive satisfactorily without, it will then be proper to test his amiability and the extent of his training in the use of the whip. ”

“ On account of the night driving we have lately put two men on each car, a driver and an orderly who just goes back and forth between the posts. Five cars are out every day and eight drivers. Three cars begin at the posts and two wait in the woods. As a car comes in from a post, another is sent out from the woods and this driver takes with him the orderly who has just come in, as only one man is necessary to make the trip from the woods to the hospital. ”

“ Driving at night should also be practiced, and prospective drivers should learn to distinguish the faint glow on the road ahead which designates the presence of a motorcycle and other signs denoting persons or vehicles. ”

“ Dogs, chickens and other domestic animals at large on the highway are not pedestrians, and if one is driving at a regulation speed, or under,{71} one is not responsible for their untimely end.
It is, therefore, especially advisable to drive slowly through all towns and villages. Drive slowly past all school-houses. ”

“ The second method however entails more expense and trouble than the first, which with careful driving need rarely be the cause of accidents.
|Traces hooked to shafts dangerous.| The leader’s traces are sometimes hooked to the points of the shafts, but as this is a most dangerous system it should never be employed. ”

“ In approaching trouble, where you are likely to need your thong, unwind it and hold only the point under your thumb. A cut in time may save a whole side of harness!
Four horses with a heavy vehicle behind them—a drag weighs from twenty-one to twenty-four hundred pounds, a public coach from twenty-four hundred to three thousand pounds—and loaded with passengers occupies a good deal of space, gathers a good deal of momentum, and needs a good deal of skill in its governor. The very assumption of the task of driving is a great responsibility. No man should undertake it lightly. ”

“ He swerved the car, and just escaped contact with another that came out of a narrow road at right angles.
"You were in the wrong there," she mentioned. "They sounded the horn, and you didn't. Any commendation I gave to your driving is hereby withdrawn. Try to be more careful in future. ”

“ Motorists, going to the club, usually let their cars out on the long hill and if another car, coming around the bend from the opposite direction, reaches the bridge at the same time, only skilful driving and good brakes can avoid a smash-up. ”

“ though you must everywhere build on piles of your own driving. ”

“ The driver was then called, and the one who lay prostrate was raised and placed in the vehicle which was ordered to drive with all speed to the Hospital, the others entering the other carriage and driving rapidly off in another direction. ”

“ For the first few days driving either up or down steep hills must be avoided, but the work should consist in driving quietly about roads, teaching the colt to turn round, and also turn sharp angles into another road &c. ”

“ To go exploring cross-country roads in a hilly district you need a reliable car. It may have been the quality of my car, it may have been good fortune, it may have been careful driving, for careful driving counts, but the fact remains, in spite of many bad and stony roads, during the journey I suffered no breakdown, nor did I on a previous journey of some hundreds of miles. ”