Iron County Record | 1955-04-28 | Page 2 | It's Happening Here

It's happening Here Being normal people, most of us are moved with compassion com-passion when we see pictures of child victims of war or famine. We pity the poor children who grow up in countries coun-tries less fortunate than ours. ; At such times we're likely to think ofj the many advantages advant-ages most American children enjoy: good food, clothing, housing, education, freedom from . want, freedom from fear. ,1 . We lose sight of the fact that these well fed and often pampered American youngsters are exposed every day to an enemy as vicious as any invading army, an enemy that annually takes the lives of over 4000 children and injures over 200,000 more. This enemy? Traffic accidents! J We can't even lay the blame for this child slaughter at the door of the criminal element in our society. The vehicles ve-hicles that snuff out the lives of our children are, for the most part, driven by ordinary, law abiding citizens. Most of these people have the welfare of the nation and its children at heart. Yet, through sheer carelessness, they rob countless children of life, bring grief to parents, and rob the country of its most precious possession its future citizens. What's the explanation? The only explanation is they don't realize that careless driving breeds traffic accidents. As long as drivers cherish this blind spot, we'll continue to. have traffic accidents many of them involving children. chil-dren. . V All of us who drive should wake up and face the facts. It's criminally careless to drive an automobile (1) when you're ill, worried, or fatigued, (2) after you've been drinking, drink-ing, (3) at a speed that's not safe for conditions. "None of us can say we've never been guilty of careless driving in the past. But we can resolve to mend our ways in the future. Now, during the Child Pedestrian and Bicycle Bi-cycle Safety program, would be a good time to make such a resolution. If we consider ourselves responsible citizens, v'we ought to act accordingly.