OCR Text |
Show Rules Of The Koad By Harold Philips Information and Publications Director National Conservation Bureau "Driving too fast for conditions" l.i a common tag-line on the ucc-dent ucc-dent reports filed by police. National and state safety experts have long since come to the conclusion con-clusion that It b not the general factor of speed above the limit set by tiie state that causes accidents, but rather the Indiscriminate use of speed regardless of conditions. Certainly a vehicle traveling over a dry, straight, flat road with little or no traffic, is less likely to become Involved in trouble than a car going go-ing at the same speed over a twisting, twist-ing, hilly and congested highway. Thivt's why State Police wain drivers, when weather and traffic conditions are not favorable, to use extra caution. Usually this means to keep well below the speed limit ..hen roads are wet or visibility poor. They have penty of material to draw from to document these warnings.- With careful use of speed a driver can avoid the twisting, killing wrecks that occur dally. Faulty Judgment usually is the cause of the accident but it Is speed that kills and malms. But speed Is not the only Hem of highway safety, Other rules of the road can kill and malm Just as quickly. Handling a car after drinking, drink-ing, driving on the wrong side and hogging the road; going through stop signs; disregarding school zones, and weaving through traffic are only a few of the things that can bring about accidents. But safe driving Is not only a matter of observing all of the rules all of the time yourself. When you venture upon the open highways these days and It Is a venture you must constantly be on the alert for the shortcomings of others. These shortcomings often take on rather monstrous aspects. Although Utah has built and Is building roads which will compare favorably with those or any state in the union, they carry a high percentage per-centage of out-of-state motorists. Nineteen forty-seven Is expected to be a peak year for tourist travel, and with Utah cedebratlng its Cen-tennlul. Cen-tennlul. the highways during June. July and August will be more crowded crowd-ed than ever before. Driving a car Is a full-time Job Giving the major part of your attention at-tention to a conversation within the car or to the scenery along the road Is bound to slow your reactions when they need to be their sharpest. sharp-est. By the same token, crossing the street has become a major undertaking, un-dertaking, calling for complete concentration. con-centration. America builds the safest saf-est automobiles In the world, but unless the man behind the wheel adheres to the rules of the road there Is no mechanical safeguard ever manufactured that can keep him from endangering the lives of motorists and pedestrians. |