Salt Lake Telegram | 1940-03-04 | Page 6 | We Move Backward in Safety

We Move Backward in Safety STATISTICS on motor fatalities In Utah and In th nation for 1939 and for the start of th current year prevent a new challenge to . th state's safety program. Depit a sizable reduction In fatalities last year Utah still ha record which contrasts con-trasts unfavorably with th nation a a whole, with other state, and with th record In the far wet Perhaps the fairest check on traffic safety b the National Safety council rating of deaths per 100,000,000 vehicle miles. That rating is much more favorable to Utah, and fairer, too, than rating baled on death per 100,000 population. pop-ulation. The former method of rating shows Utah's death rate at 147, compared with a national average of 12.2. Thirteen state hav rate 10 or below, with Rhode Island th lowest with ' 4.4. The 11 far western states average better than Utah. Six hav lower rating, one th same, one slightly higher and only two. Art-sons Art-sons and New Mexico, considerably surpass the Utah rate. But that Isn't the worst of It Last year Utah did tmprov its position relative to other tate considerably yet even so, it position was none too good. But so far this year we ar moving backward. Up to March 1 the state has a 28 per cent increase in fatalities. SaR Lake county ha a 80 per cent Increase. Salt Lake City has 20 per cent Increase.- But the nation a a whole, according to January figures, has experienced an Increase of only 6 per cent and cities in the nation have reduced fatalities 1 per cent It 1 plain that if w keep on the way wo have been going the rest of 1940, much of the 1939 safety gain will be wiped out and we will wind up as a state where we were In 1938 at or very near th bottom of the list. It 1 hard to understand why Utah should hav such a poor record for traffic safety, when state similarly mountainous and with no better highway systems relative to vehicle mileage de a better than average safety job. For instance Washington with llA Oregon with 11.7 and Montana with 10J all have much better record on a mileage basis. Ther seems no way to account tor the difference between those states and Utah save on a personal basis that ia official and public interest in and cooperation with the safety program. Ther must He the answer to Utah's safety problem. We must arouse the determination on th part of everyone officials, motorists, pedestrians pe-destrians to top this slaughter on our highways. high-ways. If all of us make up our minds to do it it can easily be done. If we donX not aU the preaching and publicity and engineering and enforcement can achieve any lasting result.