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Show Jaycee Committee Submits Recommendations For Traffic Safety Program A special committee appointed by the Board of Directors of the Junior Jun-ior Chamber of Commerce, after conducting an extensive survey of traffic conditions in Cedar City, has filed a report with the 'city Council requesting immediate action ac-tion on sixteen points of trail ir safety. Emphasized in the report Is the need for traffic safety educational educa-tional programs among all groups in the city. In addition to filing the report with the City Council the committee commit-tee has sent copies to all city, county coun-ty and state agencies responsible for any phase of the recommendations. Of paramount Importance was a city-wide educational program for everyone. This program to be carried car-ried out with the thought in mind to get everyone to observe and o-bey o-bey traffic regulations and to practice prac-tice good common sense when walking or driving on the streets. The need for this was borne out forcibly by results of a survey conducted con-ducted by the Junior Chamber o; Commerce during the past two weeks. The survey indicated that there Is a flagrant disregard for traffic safety rules in the city, especially es-pecially among the children, who have assumed an attitude of open rebellion toward common sense traffic traf-fic safety measures. Members conducting con-ducting the survey at the intersection intersec-tion of main street and center street observed as many as 50 children child-ren walking across the street at th.it point against the traffic light, and this was only during a 30 minute min-ute period. "This practice must be stopped before tragic consequences result" the report stated. Children at the school grounds have no regard re-gard at all toward recognized traffic traf-fic lan's for pedestrians, when school is dismissed they swarm a-cross a-cross the strees in ah directions In a heavy tide, making it Impossible for the people carrying out the survey sur-vey at this point to count the number num-ber of children disobeying the traffic traf-fic regulations. The report pointed out that during dur-ing the period that the survey was made, there was not a single instance in-stance where a local law enforcement enforce-ment officer was present to regulate and enforce traffic rules. The Jaycee Jay-cee club emphatically called for stricter law enforcement, statLng that this Is necessary for the sue cess of any educational program. The Junior Chamber of Commerce group called for the stationing of a traffic officer at the main street and center street intersections at all times when there are large numbers num-bers of children going to and from school, and another officer at the . intersection of Center street and 3rd West streets during similar times. Children should be taught traffic traf-fic safety princtples along with their three "r's" In school, the Junior Jun-ior Chamber of Commerce committee commit-tee maintained. It called upon school officials and teachers in the school to place more emphasis on traffic safety to their pupils. At the same time the group called upon the parents to teach traffic safety in the homes, to admonish children S nt all times to observe and obey traffic regulations. Churches and ! other organizations could do well to recognize the need of better traffic safety In the city and include this subject in their studies. t During the survey conducted by the Jaycecs it was found that liun- dreds of Cedar City children are j forced to walk in the streets due to the lack of, or the poor condl- tlon of, sidewalks. Specific exam-I exam-I pies were pointed out in the report, psm lally the lack of sidewalks on ' main street leading from the Cedar Crest Lodge to 2nd South street, ; and on Harding Avenue from 3rd j West to 8th West street. There s were many othrr such example i brought to light during the survey and the Juycee group called upon the city to rectify this condition at once in the Interest of better i traffic safety. These sidewalks need not be paved, the report stated, but they should be cleared of all weeds, leveled and graveled, i That there should be an addition- ! al pedestrian lnne across Main j street was borne out during the survey. This lane should be re-in stalled across the street from the Cedar Theatre to th? Library. People Peo-ple going to and from the post office of-fice were observed to jaywalk In almost every Instance, rather than to walk up to the intersection. The report called for the city to provide street markings or crossings, cross-ings, clearing marked, at all important im-portant Intersections in tiie city where children cross while on their way to and from school. These crossings should be made on all intersections in-tersections on First North street. Center street and First South streets. It is the belief of the Traffic Traf-fic Safety committee that these painted crossings will serve as a guide to school children to use and to cross the highways at this point rather than to cross indiscriminately indiscriminate-ly at any point on the highway. As a result of the survey, it was recommended by the Junior Chamber Cham-ber group that the speed limit on Main street be revised as it is thought to be far to excessive at the present time. The limits recommended recom-mended by the group were: From the city limits on the south side of the city to 2nd South street, 35 miles an hour, from second south ;Ueet to center street, 25 miles per hour; from Center street to First North street, 15 miles an hour, from First North street to the bridge north of the city, 25 miles an hour and 35 miles an hour from this point out to and beyond the point jf the mountain. Large sighs should oe erected telling of these speed limits and this speed limit should be enforced to the letter of the law. Members of the group making the survey actually followed large, bus-?s bus-?s and trucks down the south approach ap-proach road an Main Street at pe ds exceeding 45 miles an hour up to and until they came to the traffic light at Center street. Many Ma-ny large vehicles were actually fol lowed at speeds exceeding 30 mile; an hour between Center street and First North street. The survey also pointed out that cars by the hund-eds hund-eds are speeding down Mi'.i street at speeds far above those consistent consist-ent with good traffic safety practices. prac-tices. During the two week period that this survey was carried out, members of the Junior Chamber of Commerce making the survey reported re-ported that at no time did they notice a highway patrolman or a local lo-cal law enforcement officer on the job to enforce traffic regulations, either on the Main street, or at the schools. Six large trucks were followed fol-lowed past College Avenue on Main street at speeds exceeding 45 miles an hour in a period of three hours in one afternoon, although it was borne out that drivers of lighter cars were the most common offend-crs offend-crs in this care. Tills situation presents a problem prob-lem that must be recognized and rectified, the report stated. Vehicles traveling at high speeds down the steep grades on South Main street constitute a traffic menace that we dare not overlook, the Junior Chamber of Oommerce reported. That Cedar City motorists rarely observe stop signs is evident by results re-sults determined by the survey Two ubservors, one watching the Intersection at Center street and First East street and the other watching the Intersection at 3rd West and Center street reported that over 50 per cent of the cats going through those intersections failed to stop for the stop signs. Of 75 cars watched as Uiey passed through the Center-First East intersection in-tersection during the hour between 4:30 and 5:30 p. m., only 24 cars came to a stop at the stop sign, while 51 failed to stop. The survey sur-vey conducted at the Intersection on Center and 3rd West street, In a half hour period, 18 cars stopped at the sign while 52 did not. The committee called upon the state road commission to eliminate elimin-ate the narrow and dangerous bridge located on North Main St. stating that this bridge is a definite defin-ite menace. The bridge is not wide enough to accommodate two can at once with any degree of safety and the Improvement of the bridge should receive high priority on any road building project In tills local- (Continued to Back Page) I Submits Traffic Safety Program I (Continued from Front Page) lty Another important point, brought out by the survey, was the absence of 'slow" or " School Zone" signs on pavement on streets adjacent to the schools. According to the Traffic Safety Committee, this condition should be taken care of at once, with sii'.ns being placed on the streets, warning motorists to slow down when entering the school zon. These signs should be maintained In good condition at all times. There are several blind corners in Cedar City that constitute a definite def-inite traffic hazard, the report indicated. in-dicated. One of them is on the intersection in-tersection of 4th West and Harding Avenue,' while another is on the road leading to the city dump. The Removal of trees and obstacles at these points is certainly conducive to good traffic safety practices, the rejMirt stated. The Junior Chamber of Commerce Com-merce also called for "Quiet. Hospital Hos-pital Zone" signs to be placed on roads leading to the hospital. The Installation of a traffic light at the Intersection of Center street and 3rd West street for the purpose pur-pose of controlling traffic at this important intersection when children child-ren are going to and from school was advocated by the Traffic Safety Committee. This traffic light would also prove as an Invaluable aid to school teachers In their traffic safety educational progiam. The practice or the City Street department to leave excavation and other obstacles in the street? at night without warning lights was condemned by Hie group. The report re-port pointed out specifically that a large section of a culvert at the Intersection In-tersection of Center street and 3rd West street has been left exposed for many weeks now without any warning, lights posted at night Such practices constitute a dangerous dang-erous hazard, the report stated. In submitting their report to the City council for consideration, the Junior Chamber of Commerce said that it was not their Intention to advocat s a traffic safety program that would be Impossible to complete, com-plete, but that each and every recommendation re-commendation made in the report could and should be followed in the Interest of better traffic safety safe-ty conditions In the city. They stated sta-ted that this program would nol impose a financial burden on the city, their program was one of recognizing re-cognizing existing problems that should have been rectified before. "If, by our campaign, we can prevent pre-vent one accident, or If we can make it possible for our children to grow up withji healthy regard lor proper traffic safety practice, any efforts we shall make Will be well w.uth while." the report stat-t(l. stat-t(l. "We cannot put monetary valuation val-uation on the lite of even one child, and every effort should be made at once to eliminate the hazards pointed out before, through our own neglect someone in our city should lose his life." |