Show By Mary Sager with James Joseph A Lady Track Driver Warns: Beware the Helpful Male “I am constantly appalled at the naivetg of the average woman alone and in trouble on our highways From where I drive —behind the wheel of a n interstate truck —I have often murmured 'For heaven's sakes lady don't!' " 20-to- Blonde petite and a mother of two old Mary Sager is by profestruck driver As such sion a long-hashe is one of the nation's foremost female authorities on highway driving — and its hazards Wheeling a “big rigf coast to coast she has seen many women drivers in trouble Here she tells how to avoid the dangers awaiting stranded women motorists 30-ye- ar ul “Chivalry” says the author “can mean danger for the woman akne and in trouble on the road11 At 2:04 am she called her parents from a freeway emergency phone telling them of her plight and asking her father to pick her up Half an hour later he found her car but not his daughter She has not been seen nor heard from since I am constantly appalled at the naTvet6 —call it blind trust if you will — of the average woman alone and in trouble on our highways From where I n drive —behind the wheel of a interstate truck — I have often murmured “For heaven’s sake lady don'tV Don't — I want to tell the woman with a flat on the freeway — stand there alone beside your car especially at night Drive off the freeway to the first service station and forget the tire Don't —I’ve wanjd to tell the woman stalled on a busy road with an overheated engine —let your helplessness betray you Raise the hood to let patrolling police know your trouble Then lock yourself in the car and wait In time an officer will stop to help you Don't —I’ve wanted to warn the woman involved alone at night in a minor accident —fall victim to the “hit and assault ruse: your car’s' bumped from behind but when you get out to 20-to- As a woman and a professional driver I am glad to say that chivalry on our highways is not entirely dead Again as a woman —but this time with regret — I must say: chivalry can mean dan ger for the woman alone and in trouble on the road Consider the following: In Brooklyn a housewife driving home from a bridge party was criminally assaulted by a motorist who offered to get her stalled car going On a Midwestern expressway the “mechanic who chivalrously volunteered to fix a woman's headlights beat her savagely when she refused his advances One night last November a pretty Pierce College student ran out of gas on a Los Angeles freeway 18-year-- old 4 Family Weekly June 6 1971 exchange credentials with the lone male discover it was no bumper accident Most states require those involved in traffic accidents to exchange license numbers and the names of their insurance companies' No law requires you to get out of your car or to roll down the windows to do it Stay safe Exchange references from the security of your locked car by pressing your driver’s license and insurance card against the window so he can read them and write down what he needs to know You can read his the same way When a woman sets out alone particularly at night she should instinctively do three things: lock herself in check to make sure she has plenty of gas and sit there just a moment planning the safest route Busy streets through parts of town are safest Avoid shortcuts or unfamiliar streets you might drive during daylight hours If it is particularly late at night choose a route where in an emergency you can find service staquick refuge: at tions and restaurants With a choice of streets choose the widest and keep to the center and middle lanes Avoid the lane closest to the curb Bus stops are y you-quickl- well-light- ed all-nig- ht favorite lurking places for those who lie in wait for women driven And never when driving alone at night switch on the inside lights You merely call attention to yourself as a woman and to the obvious — that you are alone Short of these “basics" here are some emergency situations —and how women who drive alone should handle them: Out of gas On the freeways day or night roll to the right shoulder if you can onto the center divider if you must In daylight and if you’re reasonably near a phone call the police or your auto club Don't especially at night attempt to walk off the freeway Return to your car raise the hood (to alert passing police) and shut yourself in At night switch on your parking and taillights Stranded in traffic you may have to accept a push to the shoulder Communicate with the pusher by hand signals or if you must speak with him roll down your window 1 or 2 inches —no more That's enough to be heard but not enough for him to get a hand through Don't relax your guard merely because a roaming tow truck arrives YouYe being followed Not many women can elude a follower —or should try If you think you’re being followed (most often it happens at night) turn in at the nearest service station police station or fire station — anywhere you can drive in safely If you're being followed home don't drive home unless you know someone's there to help you Drive to a police station instead It as some women whove foolishly attempted to elude a follower at night street do you end up in a dead-en- d what you must do to attract help: drive up over the curb and right up to someone's front door if you must your horn blasting as you do I have never understood women trapped on a lonely deadend street by a follower who have shrunk back from emergency trespassing even at the cost of their lives Your collision insurance will pay for damages Stranded miles from town On extended drives the rules —but not the sitting Simply precautions —change there may not be enough If it's a flat you should know how to change it quickly But if the problem is more complex and you must get to a garage put yourself in the position of being the chooser of who helps you Be smart No woman alone on the road should needlessly display her femyourininity Cover up self even if it means mussing your hair slipping into a baggy sweater or throwing on an old coat Finally realize this: I am not trying to frighten women Nor to drive them from the driver's seat I am only saying that the lone woman driver must recognize that a new danger exists for her on our highways and streets Lady beware! De-glamor- ize |