OCR Text |
Show EDUCATION REDUCES CHILD ACCIDENTS. A primary reason for the steadily increasing toll of automobile accidents acci-dents is that we have attempted to meet changed conditions with old, inadequate in-adequate laws. . In many states traffic laws have not been revised to any extent since the x-cart days. More and more cars throng highways. Congestion increases. increas-es. Speed ranges rise. The chance of accident grows constantly greater. And until traffic laws are modernized modern-ized and standardized, the. accident problem will increase. Last year our laxity resulted in the deaths of 31,000 persons and untold 1 property damage. Only a few states J make it necessary for a driver, before t using the public highways, to learn . how to operate his car and understand the rules of the road. In the others anyone, irrespective of his competence, compet-ence, is -allowed to drive a high-pow-J ered, potentially deadly vehicle on crowded highways, where he is a menace men-ace to the lives and property of all other motorists. The' bright spot in the traffic situation situ-ation is the condition respecting children. chil-dren. The adoption of safety teaching by progressive schools throughout the nation has resulted in an amazing decrease in accidents to children. Such a demonstration should encourage encour-age more intensive efforts in the future. |