OCR Text |
Show SAFETY RESTS WITH THE DRIVER. In commenting on the staggering number of deaths due to traffic accidents ac-cidents on some of the highways in Oregon, the Portland Oregonian makes the following very practical remarks : "The automobile is not the pleasing pleas-ing toy so many of us appear to consider con-sider it. Its terrific potentialities annually an-nually realized in this country are as dread as those of war. "It is the human factor that makes motoring alike perilous and safe and' the best of all commonplace rules is to watch the road. "Drivers of motor vehicles whose speed limit on the highway is tentatively tenta-tively fixed at 45 miles an hour, but who may drive at a greater speed if prudence suggests it, have no time to view the landscape or to turn their heads for a word with someone in the rear seat. "We do not believe the traffic problem ever will be solved that is to say, that ever we shall be quit of it. But relief lies as surely in public education as in law." The constant increase in deaths and accidents from automobiles from 1927 to 1930, inclusive, based on the average aver-age loss cost per car, has forced the National Bureau of Casualty and Surety underwriters to make a marked mark-ed increase in automobile liability rates in 14 leading states. The insurance insur-ance companies undoubtedly regret that such action is necessary, more than does the average car owner. The car owner controls the situation situa-tion and insurance companies are practically helpless to do nothing but pay the bills. If accident increases continue as steadily upward for the next four years, automobile owners can blame no one but themselves for further increase in rates. |