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Show iois fieeHont ill SPECIAL TO THE CLIPPER What kind of a safety record have residents of Davis County been compiling for themselves? How does it compare with the record in other communities? ON THE basis of the last three annual reports, released by the U.S. Public Health Service, the local accident ac-cident rate has been running somewhat lower than in most areas. Local residents have been averaging 37 fatal accidents per year, the official figures show, with motor vehicles being the cause of 15 of them. ALL TYPES of accidents were included in the reports, whether they took place in the home, on the job or while driving, swimming, boating or hunting. All accidents involving local residents, wherever they may have taken place, are counted in the tabulation. Excluded are local accidents that affected only nonresidents. non-residents. IN GENERAL, according to the National Safety Council, for every fatal accident there are nearly 100 others that do not result in death but do necessitate medical attention and restricted activity. From the standpoint of population, Davis County's toll was below average during the three-year period. It was equivalent to a rate of 35 fatal accidents per 100,000 population popula-tion per year. BY WAY of comparison, the rate throughout the rest of the United States was 55 per 100,000. It averaged 61 in the State of Utah. The National Safety Council was highly gratified by the gains made in the past year. The total number of acciden- tal deaths decreased by . nearly 11,000, the final total being approximately 105,000. THE BIGGEST reduction was in traffic fatalities 17 percent below the previous year. Lower driving speeds were the single most important impor-tant factor in the saving of lives, it finds. According to the Council's figures, in addition to 'the 105,000 killed in accidents, another 11 million sustained disabling injuries. The economic loss this represents is placed at $43.3 billion and includes wage losses of $13.2 billion, $7.4 billion in insurance, in-surance, and $6.5 billion in property damage, among others. DAVIS County's share of this bill, assuming that the average cost per accident applies locally, amounts to nearly $9,657,000. Vm2mym&Qymy&elM,mmfjm) |