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Show SEAR6EANT HUNSAKER GIVES ADVICE Oil SAFE DSPiG The following article is a reprint from the Utah Sheriff and Police magazine and was written by Sergeant T. Earl Hunsaker of the Utah State Highway Patrol. We think this is one of the finest articles on the subject we have ever read and suggest that all car drivers driv-ers carefully study it. In addressing you on this national na-tional and important subject, "Save a Life," I realize my inability, in-ability, in the fact that the spirit 1 of the 20th century is speed and the automobile chugged its way into the American scene at the beginning of the 20th century. No one seemed to take the matter seriously. It seemed to be a remarkably re-markably harmless toy and if an occasional chicken lost its life damages could be easily righted by a few contrite words or perhaps per-haps a dollar, but this fad did not fade, and, instead the automobile auto-mobile has become the all important im-portant industry in modern civilization. civili-zation. But the unfortunate thing for us is that we have not fully learned to appreciate this modern means of transportation without paying such a tremendous price. The automobile of today is a marvel of mechanical safety and engineering. The highways are the results of years of scientific effort ef-fort to reduce the hazards of traffic. Law enforcement is more Intelligent and more universal, yet, as each year rolls out of existence ex-istence we go on record as having hav-ing killed more people than the preceding year. One of the chief answers to my way of thinking is education. I am happy that we have today a number of high schools throughout through-out the state of Utah that are teaching courses in safe driving and walking; and that the Uni-versity Uni-versity of Utah and the Utah State Agricultural College .have maintained these courses for the past two years. It was my conviction con-viction seven and a half years ago when I entered the law enforcement en-forcement game that if we could have taught these courses in high schools and colleges that in a few. years we would have the problem well under control. When you stop to realize the millions of dollars that have been spent in ironing out crooks and turns, widening highways, posting safety signs, engineering, education and enforcement into this great campaign, cam-paign, the average layman has little conception of the experiments experi-ments and investment that have gone into making the automobile of today a marvel of mechanical safety engineering, except for the thousands of miles of improved highways so well engineered that he can round the curves at a speed of 56 to 60 miles per hour. The present use of the automobile, automo-bile, both for business and pleasure pleas-ure is comparatively a recent development de-velopment when you stop to realize rea-lize that at the beginning of this century there were only 8,000 automobiles au-tomobiles registered. Today there is in the neighborhood of 28,100,900. We have progressed from the horse and huggy days into an era when practically any individual individ-ual can own and operate a high-powered high-powered motor vehicle that to us a few years ago was almost inconceivable. in-conceivable. A recent survey conducted which covered a period of 18-months 18-months showed that we killed ct.900 people by automobile, or 6.390 more than we killed during America's entire participation in the World War. We wounded during dur-ing that war 324.000 American soldiers, sailors and marines. During Dur-ing that 18 months' time we wounded 1.900.0CO people by automobile auto-mobile accidents, or nearly eight times as many as were wounded during the worst war that has ever been fought. Some of you older gentlemen recall how patriotic patri-otic we all were to throw out hats In the ring and fight for freedom free-dom and democracy. If we couldn't could-n't shoulder a musket and fall in line, we bought Liberty bonds or made some other sacrifice. Today we have a war raging in our cities, towns and state which Is snapping out life at a faster rate than did the World War. It is easy for the driver of an automobile involved in an accident to blame some defect in his car as the cause of the accident. Statistics Sta-tistics show clearly that the defect de-fect is usually in the driver, for in more than 80 per cent of the accidents the car is apparently in good condition. The bystander will tell you that the green driver causes the accidents. Statistics show that 90 per cent of the people peo-ple involved in accidents have had more than one year actual training, 7 per cent less than one year, and 3 per cent had no rating. rat-ing. Nearly everyone recognizes the importance of keeping the mechanical mech-anical safety devices of the automobile, auto-mobile, that is the horn, brakes, lights, steering apparatus, in excellent ex-cellent condition. I am sure no one would question the wisdom of this advice for one minute. However, How-ever, it is equally important that we determine just how well fitted certain individuals are to operate a motor vehicle safely on our highways today. You know in spite of the automatic gear shift, engine en-gine and starter, the man behind the wheel still has to tell when to start and stop the car. Most everyone recognizes the fact for an emergency stop when such an emergency arises. But, frequently they act after it is too late to avoid the accident:" Have you ever listened to someone in a .Conversation who has ben involved involv-ed in an accident and heard him say: "I saw the car coming all right," or, "I saw the child come running out into the highway but I just couldn't do anything about it?" All this to me means that the car was being driven at a faster rate of speed than that driver could easily stop under the traffic conditions involved at the time. Scientists making careful study as to just what causes high way accidents have demonstrated clearly that there is a lag of time between the time when a danger is cited and when the brakes are applied. Furthermore, that this time differs with individuals. Some are much quicker to apply the brakes than others. The results re-sults of this test, however, in no way indicate a person's intelligence of technical knowledge of an automobile, au-tomobile, but they do show his or her alertness to handle an automobile auto-mobile in the face of any emergency emer-gency when such an emergency arises. You have all read of Sir Malcolm Mal-colm Campbell and Ab Jenkins, the present mayor of Salt Lake City. These men have driven rec-ihg rec-ihg automobiles at a speed of three hundred miles per hour. While I am not advocating this high rate of speed oh our highways high-ways today, yet the very lives of these men depend upon their alertness to handle an automobile in the face of any emergency. These men snow the fastest reaction re-action time tests of any man They can take their foot from the accelerator and place it on the brake pedal in one quarter of a second, while most people acquire ac-quire from one-half to thre quarters quar-ters second to do the same tiling. This human reaction time vary with individuals. You recall that the housewife doesn't burn her finger when she tests the heat of her Hat iron. I am sure that you will all agree in touching an object ob-ject that you do not know is hot that you are severely burned. Now the reason is found in the fact that it takes time for the nervous system to transmit a message to (Continued on page four) HERE'S MORE ABOUT Patrolman Hunsaker Advises On Safe Driving (Continued from page one) the central nervous system, and then a mesage transmitted back to the hand to release the finger from the object. While this process pro-cess is very rapid, yet it is not rapid enough to save a painful burn. Keep Car Under Control I am driving on a streSd and suddenly a child chasing a baseball base-ball comes darting out in front of me. I see him, and the message is transmitted to my central nervous ner-vous system, and a message is transmitted back through the muscles of my leg, and I slam on the brakes. This process is also gency. I am sure that not one of these individuals would run the slightest chance of driving their car off the roof of a ten story building; yet should a car traveling travel-ing 60 miles per hour strike a stationary object the damages done to it and its occupants would be identical, the same as a car driven off the roof of a ten story building. In either case imagine how much chance you would have of saving sav-ing your life with the engine of your automobile driven back in under the rear seat. If, however, the public insists on driving at these fast rates of speed I should like them to keep this picture In mind and remember that when you double your speedometer reading read-ing you require four times the distance to stop in. This class of drivers, ladies and gentlemen, is only half of the reason why accidents ac-cidents are increasing. fast, but perhaps not fast enough : for me to have saved the life of that child at the speed I was ' traveling. : At 60 miles an hour an automobile automo-bile travels 88 feet in a second. If -a person has quick reaction time he will be required to travel 44 feet before he can even start to stop his car. Should I have been traveling at 60 miles an hour and this child came running out within with-in 44 feet of my front bumper I would have been powerless to have saved the life of that child. Superior four-wheel brakes will stop an automobile in 150 feet at a speed of 60 mils per hour. With one-half reaction time the driver would bei required to pass over 194' feet before he could stop his car at a speed of 60 miles on dry concrete. On wet concrete, or with ordinary poor brakes, the distance would be much greater. Many people will drive their automobiles au-tomobiles at a speed of 60 miles an hour on a dangerous piece of highway without giving the matter mat-ter serious thought as to just how quick they could stop in an emer- |