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Show Press Safety Drive Effective i Confidence that the Highway Traffic Safety Campaign conducted conduct-ed during the thirteen weeks end-, ing July 4th by member newspapers newspa-pers of the Utah State Press As-, sociation had been responsible for the saving of many lives in Utah, was expressed Tuesday by Roy A. : Schonian, manager of the associa- tion. I A brief survey of the traffic sit-; uation in the state made for the association by C. T. Bailey, execu- tive director of the Utah Safety Council, covering the first six months of 1947, showed a remarkable remark-able decrease in highway accident fatalities in the face of a heavy increase in highway travel, Mr. Schonian said, as compared with last year. According to Mr. Bailey's report there were 79 highway fatalities in Utah in 1947, up to and including includ-ing June 30, as compared with 91 for the same period in 1946, a decrease de-crease in 1947 of 13 percent. Over the same period, an estimate esti-mate of motor vehicle miles traveled, trav-eled, based on state gasoline tax i collections on motor vehicle fuel consumption, showed an increase of 12 percent over 1946. "Balancing a 13 percent decrease in highway fatalities against a 12 percent increase in accident ex-posur, ex-posur, we believe we can be justly just-ly proud of the part our safety campaign played in the saving of these lives," Mr. Schonian explained. ex-plained. j "A hasty tabulation of the publicity pub-licity given by our newspapers to highway safety precautions reveals that in the 13-week campaign just closed, approximately 30,000 column col-umn inches of space were devoted . to highway safety in the 60 member mem-ber newspapers of our association. Of this amount, approximately half was in the form of editorials, by-lined articles by safety experts, pictures of highway accidents, carrying object lessons, and small, boxed 'safety tips of the week.' The other half was in sponsored safety advertisements, some of which were sponsored throughout the state by state organizations, ! Continued on Page 10 PRESS SAFETY DRIVE SUCCESS Continued from paKe i with most of them being paid by community businessmen" Also gratifying to the membe,, of his association, Mr. Schoni" said, is the fact that in spite of" national toll exceeding predicts ' and amounting to 275 traffic fe talities over the July 4th week end, there was only one trafit fatality in Utah over the weelt.J and none at all on July 4th week, one death has occurred as5 result of a freak accident whit? happened the evening of the tliini' Significant, too, to members oi the Press Association, is the fac-that fac-that traffic fatalities in Salt Lake County, up to midnight of July j had showed an increase of 6 over the same period in 1946, while i the less populated remainder of the state where their newspaper circulate most extensively, there . was a decrease of 18. |