LOOK AT THE HIGHWAY ACCIDENT FIGURES after any weekend or holiday, and you might come to the conclusion that cars are mighty dangerous. Not so, says Betty Skelton, 28-year-old auto-speed-record holder for women and only woman test driver in the automobile industry. It's not cars that make life hazardous, Betty explains, but careless drivers. Trouble is, she says, many of the people behind the wheel never really learned how to drive. Betty currently is lecturing to youth groups all over the nation on safe driving habits. She believes that every high school should have a thorough training program, instilling in the youngsters correct driving habits which will stick with them for life.
When Betty talks, young drivers-to-be prick up their ears. They figure that anyone with so much experience behind the wheel must know the score. She's the only woman licensed as a race driver by the American Automobile Association. Last June, driving an experimental Dodge Firearrow at the Chrysler Proving Grounds, Chelsea, Mich., she streaked around the course to be officially clocked at 143.44 miles per hour, setting a world's speed record for women.
Dodge hired Betty as a test driver, not only because of her driving skill and technical experience, but also to learn what women may or may not like about any new model undergoing tests. Betty arrives bright an dearly at the test site from her Detroit home, checks with engineers and mechanics on details of the car she is to test, makes a run, reports on performance, waits for changes and adjustments, then repeats the entire process. From the feminine point of view she makes suggestions on such matters as using the brake pedal while wearing high heels, possibility of snagging stockings, and ease of opening the trunk.
Photographs by Joe Clark and Jurgen Jacobsen for the American Magazine.
Article in American Magazine, May 1955 issue
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