A running board is a narrow step fitted under the side doors of a car or truck. It aids entry, especially into high vehicles, and is typical of vintage cars, which had much higher ground clearances than today's vehicles. It is also used as a fashion statement on vehicles that would not otherwise require it.
Running boards may also be used to stand on while the vehicle is moving. The name running board is also given to safety appliances for walking on rail cars.
Gangsters in the early 20th century used running boards to get a good aim at police officers, and rival gangsters. They stood on them while the getaway car was moving at high speed.
Read more about Running Board: Railroad Usage, See Also
Famous quotes containing the words running and/or board:
“Frances Stevens: Mother, this is why I’ve had to spend half my life running around the world after you—to keep men like this away from you.
Mrs. Stevens: Well after this, let me run my own interference. It looks like the blockers are having all the fun.”
—John Michael Hayes (b. 1919)
“Don’t tell me what delusion he entertains regarding God, or what mountebank he follows in politics, or what he springs from, or what he submits to from his wife. Simply tell me how he makes his living. It is the safest and surest of all known tests. A man who gets his board and lodging on this ball in an ignominious way is inevitably an ignominious man.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)