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Show TRAFFIC STUDY SHOWS HAZARD IN PEDESTRIAN Proper Street Lighting Also Factor in Fatalities By BOB HALE Traffic accident history Is repeating re-peating Itself In Salt Lake City and the surrounding metropolitan area In 1940. The five deaths this year In the area embracing Salt Lake City and county, Davis county and Utah county have served to bring home forcefully what traffic enforcement officers and other safety leaden know too well that the pedestrian is the No. 1 problem In urban districts dis-tricts and that proper street lighting light-ing is directly related to It. In suburban accident cases, the pedestrian is much less a problem, lh. nn.lnr K-i-f ...II ........ on open highways. Both Victims Fedeetrians The pedestrian problem la being demonstrated only too forcefullv and tragically In Salt Lake city. The city has had two traffic fatalities fa-talities this year and both victims were pedestrians. Of the city's 22 traffic fatality victims in 1939, IS were pedestrians, the last 10 of them in a row. The 1940 experience In the city has repeated the lesson learned In 1939 that the pedestrian seemingly seeming-ly endangers himself unknowingly. The circumstances In both pedestrian pedes-trian deaths this year are virtually identical. The same factors were involved, save for that of visibilitv. The first victim was Walter W. Steed, 81. of 2395 East 3500 South street. He was struck and killed by an automobile on Eleventh East street near Ramona avenue the night of January 1, while he was crossing the street diagonally. The motorist, absolved by police, reported re-ported he did not see Mr. Steed until too late. Visibility was poor that night because of rain and fog and street lights were too far away to illuminate the accident scene. The parallel of this accident and that Monday night that took the life of John H. Davis, of 466 North Second West atreet, on Second West street near Seventh North street, is only too clear. Like Mr. Steed. Mr. Davis was crowing a street diagonally at nighttime. The accident locations, besides being widely separated, differ dif-fer In that Second West Is a busy artery and wider than Eleventh East street. But In either case, the pedestrian would have had right-of-way had he crossed at an intersection. Htepped Into Car's Path Mr. Davis, the police accident report re-port said, stepped from in front of a parked automobile Into a traffic lane, In front of a southbound car. Mr. Davis told Patrolman Victor R. Heath he did not see the approaching approach-ing automobile and was struck on the left side, partly in the rear. The official accident report noted Mr. Davis did not have right of way, since he was not crossing at an intersection crosswalk, and apparently ap-parently did not keep a proper lookout. The street was dry and the car was proceeding about 25 miles an hour at a point where the speed limit is 30 miles an hour. The car had no defects. Unlike the case of Mr. Steed's death, the weather was clear, but, as in Mr. Steed's case, there was no street lighting at the point of the accident. One arcllght is hung as Seventh North street, not affording Illumination at the accident scene. |