OCR Text |
Show ACCIDENTS DECREASE EXCEPT WITH AUTOMOBILES. Last year the accidental death toll reached a new high record of,97,000,as compared with 95,086 in 1928, according accor-ding to the National Safety Council. This increase was due entirely to the automobile, which claimed 31,000 lives, 3,000 more than in 192S. All other causes of death show a gradual decline. Accidents to school children are increasing in-creasing far less rapidly than accidents acci-dents to adults, thanks largely to the accident prevention work in schools which is encouraged by the National Bureau of Casualty and Surety Underwriters. Un-derwriters. . Between 1922 and 1929 total fatalities of persons of all ages, increased almost 25 per cent, while in the same period accidental deaths of children under 15 gained less than one-tenth of one per cent. The states with drivers' license laws are making better records in relation re-lation to their own past experience, than the states where examinations are not required. Reports from two cities where fatalities decreased during the year are interesting. In St. Louis, the credit cre-dit is largely given to effective school work, school patrols and strict en-1 forcement of traffic laws by police; in San Francisco to scientific traffic studies, adequate enforcement, safety work in school and a continuous campaign cam-paign of education by the press, radio stations and service clubs. The National Safety Council points out one encouraging factor in the analysis an-alysis eliminating the annual toll of deaths due to the automobile, the national na-tional death rate from all other accidents acci-dents has declined 30 per cent since 1913. i |