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Show DON'T BLAME THE CAR When things go wrong it is human nature to look around for a jfoat, and the public has seldom, if ever, been known to nominate itself. Dr. Herbert .1. Stack, director of the Center for Safety Education at New York University and one of .he country's eminent accident prevention specialists, reminds us most convincingly, however, that we the public have no one to blame but ourselves for the intolerable slaughter that has been taking place mi our streets and highways. Without mincing words, the distinguished safety educator edu-cator declares that while the past two decades have seen marvelous mar-velous improvements in the motor car itself, there have been no such improvements in the drivers or even the pedestrians. Those are pretty harsh words, but their author backs them up with facts that few people will find easy to duck. He shows that faulty drivers and pedestrians cause nine-tenths of all accidents. Then he submits a crushing bill of particulars citing cit-ing four primary causes of bad driving and bad walking. Top billing goes to intoxication people who have been drinking don't react fast enough, can't see well enough and are unable to think clearly enough to cope with modern traffic traf-fic conditions. Second place goes to emotional upsets people peo-ple who are worried or angry are definitely accident prone. Daydreamers whose minds aren't on their job come next and extremes of fatigue are listed as fourth. Impatience and bravado get dishonorable mention. It is useless to argue with facts that are substantiated by statistics. Obviously, therefore, it is equally useless to blame our traffic headaches on the automobiles or their makers. As Dr. Stack says, our troubles will not be cured until we have looked ourselves honestly in the face, put the blame where it rightly belongs, and made up our minds that all of us drivers and pedestrians alike have got to do better. If we don't, we must be compelled to. |
