Measure of Safety

When the average driver tries to cut loose on a crowded highway, he is playing a dangerous game; first prize may be the last. But last week the dodgers and weavers got a break. At Florida's abandoned Flagler Beach Airport, even the local cops turned out to cheer as amateurs and pros whipped through brand-new driving tests devised by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. Instead of NASCAR's usual straight dashes down the tide-smoothed sands of Daytona Beach, the association concocted its 1958 stock-model performance tests as a yardstick of automobile safety, based them on qualities that the average driver needs in the average car during an average turn at the wheel: maneuverability in downtown traffic and passing ability on the open highway.

MANEUVERABILITY was tested on a two-lane straightaway crossed by five intersections, complete with boulevard stop signs. Contestants stopped at each intersection, turned right into a 20-ft. dead end backed across the road into another dead end, then made a left turn onto the straightaway and continued on course. Points were lost for a variety of violations--failing to come to a complete stop at intersections, rolling over the white stop line, failing to finish in the almost impossible time of 6 min. 20 sec.

PASSING tests took place on a three-quarter-mile "highway." Contestants trailed a pace car to the 600-yd. "passing area," then pulled out and tried to pass in as short a distance as possible. Each man made three passes while the pace car was traveling at 30 m.p.h., three passes while the pace car traveled at 50 m.p.h. Proper highway distances between cars were marked off by a red flag towed behind the pace car and another flag on a bamboo pole sticking out in front of it.

The speed-happy crew at Daytona Beach whipped through the safety tests at a far faster clip than the Sunday driver would dare. Contestants took off in the maneuverability trials with wheels screeching, barreled into intersections at 50 m.p.h. and jammed their brakes to the floor in a panic stop. In the passing trials, those whose cars had automatic transmissions rode behind the pace car with left foot on the brake, right foot heavy on the throttle. When the time came to pass, they simply released the brake. Already revving up to almost full power, the engine shot them ahead with a spine-jarring jerk.

Too Tough for Brakes. With the accent on speed, the maneuverability test became a rigorous trial for brakes. A pair of Pontiacs failed to finish even the first lap. Brakes completely shot, a Jaguar sailed helplessly across the finish line, scattering spectators with a steady wail of its horn. Winner was Professional Driver Mel Larson, 28, who tooled his 1958 Plymouth Savoy down the course so skillfully that he never kissed a course marker, never crossed a white line marking the 11-ft. traffic lanes. In second place: Pro Joe Weatherly, who brought his Ford Ranchero home less than 2 sec. behind Larson.

The passing tests belonged to the Pontiacs. At 50 m.p.h. they took the top three places; at 30 m.p.h. they took four of the first five places (Plymouth Driver Larson was second). Said Winner Jim McMichael: "You've got to pretend it's a real emergency to force yourself out fast and in fast. You've got to pretend a trailer truck is coming straight at you and is going to blast you to pieces if you don't get back in line. It also helps to take off for your pass as if you were leaving the scene of a bank robbery. With contestants careening down the road like bank robbers, the wonder was that there were no accidents.

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