| Show BLAMED ON pedestrians greatest number of victims of accidents are children in congested centers it may not be so far etched fetched as it might at first appear to cay ay that since motorists enjoy the advantage of swift transportation as compared with the facilities enjoyed by the pedestrian a good deal of the responsibility for in strutting ting the pedestrian might proper ly become if not exactly our duty then at least a task of chivalry or good fel howship or whatever you chose to call it if if an illustration were needed of the truth that very much depends on the point of view you have only to kemem ber that when you drive you are an by and displeased with the pe des trian bit when it happens that you yourself travel about the city on foot don t you frequently lose patience mith the motorists who compel you to wait at street corners or splash mud on your immaculate spats honest indian now dont don t you otten often r feel really and thoroughly peeved a at t 0 them an hour liter piter you are jour yourself self seated behind the steering wheel of fr your own machine and now it Is again 00 r tie tle pedestrian who mho comes in for your unkind thoughts if not for aud and ble reactions danger to ch idren in ra new york city not long ago the police department in investigating 7 automobile accidents involving passenger automobiles driven el either tl ti air owners or by chauffeurs ascer talked that only in cases was the driver to blame in 3 cases it was established beyond a reasonable doubt tl ti at the injured person was res ble for the mishap and in 3 09 cases the cause of the accident remained un determined after this the department carried on an investigation of 1209 accidents in which taxicabs were mere involved here the responsibility was placed on the driver in 51 cases wa 1 lie ile in cases the responsibility was traced to the in aured person wl RI lie ile in vises it was s in possible to settle the question of responsibility one feature that renders the bontem of tl ti e list of automobile acci acel dents a depressing affair 91 Is tl at in tl e cities at least by far the greatest number of victims of automo bile mishaps are children wl 0 tl us pay ii the penalty that life in congested cen cert exacts from the young in the child s mind play Is just as important as the business man mans s errand is to the business man or the physicians physician s hur ried trip to the patient it Is not only futile but unreasonable to expect a child to act with n ath the mature judgment of a grown up father rather the motorist 4 must think for himself as well as for the untrained mind of the youngster who has no idea of a cir s speed or of the dangers that threaten him when he be runs in front of a rapidly moving moning vel tel icle lele one thing Is certain however if the casualty list Is not substantially reduced a maze of restrictive laws will le 1 e enacted which w aich will hamper every thing and everybody connected with motoring fatalities intolerable le it Is the plain opinion of the erdl 4 nary citizen and of most civic author t ties tl atiat at something will have to be done to keep motor mishaps within rea bounds and the sooner we al f agree on safety measures that lend e tl em selves to universal application the better served will be the cause of mo says a writer in motor life let us be reasonable all around if such an attitude Is fair for the motor 1st it would help it if it were also morn mor generally adopted by the pedestrian when the motorist Is told that he Is not entitled to p treatment on the highway the statement secure ly hammered into every motorist s con simply must induce greater care on the part of the driver any oneff one of a dozen minor things a wet spot on the pavement the sudden swerve of anoil er car a mere slip on the part of the pedestrian and adoth er accident is challed chall ed up against the automobile s account |
