Show Traffic Engineering Know How Saves Many Lives Annually Traffic engineering know how Is s saving hundreds o olives of lives and preventing thousands thousand of Injuries annually but even greater contributions to high way vay safety lie in do n the future when Its scientific approach to the growing automobile acct dent problem will be better understood un understood and appreciated by the public in ithe to communities and states it jot serves according to the Association of Casualty and Surety Compa Companies A 12 year 12 year study embracing 80 dan danger r spots in all parts o othe of the country which was com corn recently by the association tion has revealed some frome outstanding out standing results in fn accident prevention through traffic en S So Some o m e significant findings were that both fatal fata accidents and injury mishaps were reduced nearly two two thirds thirds by the application of modern traffic engineering techniques at dan dangerous rous intersections and locations both urban rural which had taken extremely heavy tolls toUs of dead and Injured The accident record Ecord reported report ed at each location before and after engineering changes were made to remove the causes of ot fatalities and injuries was stud led fed closely over sufficient periods per cods lods by a local traffic engineer who reported directly to the Assod As sod at Ion Before the traffic en went to work there had been fatal at the 80 locations studied After Alter the engineering projects were finIshed fin the toll at death comers corners and other dangerous city am and rural locations surveyed dropped drop ped to 60 fatal accidents a decline decline de cline of 65 per cent according to Robert ill II Harleston Jr sr the associations association's traffic engineer Injury accidents totaled 1000 before engineering techniques were applied They were reduced reduced ed to representing a 65 per percent percent percent cent reduction Property damage dam age accidents dropped 43 per percent percent percent cent from to Ito 2600 Mr Hairleson Harleson conservatively esti est estimated mated prated that the saving in direct economic costs of accidents amounted to more than in the periods studied If the cumulative records of these traffic c engineering examples were brought up to date he declared the totals of lives saved injuries prevented and damage averted would be far greater |