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:
“You know what I like about your program? Even when I’m running the vacuum, I can understand it.”
—Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1909–1993)
“And they heaved a mighty breath, every soul on board but me,
As they saw her nose again pointing handsome out to sea;
But all that I could think of, in the darkness and the cold,
Was just that I was leaving home and my folks were growing old.”
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894)