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Show Drive to Save 38,000 Lives Begins I i By WILLIAM C. UTLEY ONE ' of every twenty of you who read this will be killed or Injured in a motor vehicle ve-hicle accident within the next five years. This is based upon the fact that one person out of every hundred was so killed or Injured In 1934 and 1035. Further conclusions would Indicate that, unless you are above the average In safety, one out of four of you will be Injured within 25 years, and one out of five within 20 years. Unless something Is done about It! . . . Something Is being done about It, and there is not a person In the United States who Is not Invited, even urged, to do his share In protecting pro-tecting his own life and the lives of 125,000,000 other Americans. But first, a little more about the problem prob-lem America faces . . . Despite early Indications that promised Improvement In accident prevention, the year 1935 closed with the ghastly toll of deaths In motor vehicle accidents soaring to a new all-time mark. There were 30,400 traffic deaths, as compared with 36,101 for the previous year, 1934. From 1933 to 1934 these deaths hideous, painful, messy deaths, most of them Increased 15 per cent. Snuffs Out Lives at Start. In the last three years more than lO.iXKX) children less than fifteen years of age went to their untimely deaths in traffic accidents thousands thou-sands more will never play ball, dance, write, read, or be able to pursue successfully the happiness that Is every American's right, because be-cause they have been crippled or blinded or cruelly cut up. What may come as a surprise to some Is that fatal motor accidents In rural districts lead those In the cities by a wide margin. In 1934, 00 per cent of all such fatalities occurred oc-curred In the rural .districts, and the figure swelled to 63 per cent In 1935. What to do about It? Perhaps we might take a lesson from the railroads. In the early days they CITIES 40 to f " l '2S "2 '11 '18 29 10 Jl JJ ii H Ji How cities and rural highways compare com-pare In fatal traffic accidents. were called "Instrumentalities of the devil himself." Wreck after wreck ghastly and deadly threatened threat-ened the very life of the roads. They had to do something. They did. They set a definite goal of safety, of lives saved, which they were determined to reach. They Installed better colling stock, better roadways, Improved personnel person-nel and safety devices. They educated ed-ucated their employees. They reached It. What that goal was mathematically, Is purposely left out, because it doesn't matter. What does matter Is that the railroads established a definite objective and refused to give up until It was attained. America has under way today Just such a campaign to reach a definite defi-nite objective. The war to save lives started January 1, and it Is being conducted by the National Safety Council, with the co-operation of industries and federal, state, county and city governments. Would Save 38,000 Lives. This Is a war to SAVE lives, not to destroy them. If It gets the cooperation co-operation of the American people, it will save 38,000. The definite goal is a reduction of 35 per cent In motor vehicle deaths by the end of 1940. In the National Safety Council's campaign 36,400 motor deaths, the total for 1935, Is taken as "par." During the first year of the drive (the present year) the goal Is a reduction re-duction of 7 per cent In the number num-ber of these deaths, an. actual saving sav-ing of 2,548 lives, leaving a total of 33.S52 deaths for the year 1936. "The records of many cities and states during the past year justifies the belief that the goal can be obtained," ob-tained," says a report of the Coun-clL Coun-clL "If a dozen states can reduce their fatalities all the way from 1 to 23 per cent In a year when the average was going up, as It was last year, other states should be able to effect substantial reductions by using the same intelligent accident acci-dent prevention methods." The "tools" for accident prevention preven-tion are at hand, as will be shown. One of the chief problems facing such a drive is organization In areas of scattered population. It Is not so difficult to cement and unify tiie interest of civic organizations where there are large masses of people, as there are in the cifit's But It Is In rural districts that 0" per cent of the fatal accidents oc cur. True, much of the enrrer'tivt work for these districts can be nd ministered from stale capitals tin! r ; - r;c' s 1 t J If IV- X ;? s, x . , -V ' . A -Tx rvxj .4 h Y f Ft H A iV ri -y -, s. L ; x - ; 4 l -AS 1 " s , I Smashups on rural highways caused 63 per cent of the 36,400 traffic deaths during 1935. Below a typical accident scene are shown W. W. Cameron (left), managing director of the National Safety Council, and Dr. C. H. Watson, president, signing resolution starting campaign to cut fatal motor vehicle accidents 35 per cent by 1940. In the final analysis the reaching of the goal lies with the Individual. An Educational Campaign. For the very reason that It IS Individual In-dividual acceptance which can make or break the campaign, It will be largely an educational one. It will be localized for each state, and for virtually each city, maintaining cooperation co-operation with public officials, traffic traf-fic safety leaders, safety groups, educational heads, civic organizations organiza-tions and Individuals. It Is planned to co-ordinate much of the existing safety effort along lines which will make that effort permanent and consistent, rather than spasmodic. New ways of appealing to the individual in-dividual motorist, to arouse a sense of responsibility and sportsmanship, sportsman-ship, are being sought State-wide school programs are being started. Organizations, under the leadership leader-ship of the National Safety Council, Coun-cil, will urge the adoption of uniform uni-form laws. Including standard drivers' driv-ers' license legislation, and adequate ade-quate administration of law-enforcing bodies. They will attempt to standardize accident reports, provide pro-vide for more complete statistics and their Interpretation. One of the important steps will be to make available to the country at large the engineering and educational technique of the states and cities now doing outstanding work. The National Safety Council will place eight field men In key points of the United States to co-ordinate -the work. Booklets, written In popular pop-ular style and explaining the methods meth-ods of successful campaigns along engineering, enforcement and educational edu-cational lines, will be prepared for nationwide distribution. Services to newspapers will be Improved and expanded. Only Five States Still Out As this Is written 43 states and the District of Columbia have "endorsed "en-dorsed the campaign and pledged their wholehearted support." Ex- 1 FATALITIES ccUidion. loith. 33- - PEDESTRIAN - W j-FIXED OBJECT 6 171 ,- OTHER VEHICLE J H 6 ,18 -NON-COLLISION- Deaths caused by various types of motor vehicle accidents In cities and on rural highways. ecutives of the National Safety Council expect to have all 48 states behind the drive within the next few weeks. Some of the things already accomplished ac-complished by the drive, even In Its present Infancy, make an Imposing list: In Maine, the system of standard stand-ard accident reporting Is being promoted. pro-moted. Governor Wilbur L. Gloss, of Connecticut, Con-necticut, has appointed a "Committee "Com-mittee of Seventeen" to carry on a safety crusade. A bill has been introduced In the New York legislature to create a "Board of Safety First." Arnold H. Vey, .Traffic Engineer in the New Jersey department of inolnr vehicles, has just submitted proposed constitutions and by-laws lor the New Jersey Safety Council, Governor A. B Chandler of Ker tucky has delegated the adjutant general to formulate a statewide safety program. Indiana has started a $100,000 WPA safety campaign. N. Y. A. Assists In Michigan. Governor F. D. Fitzgerald, of Michigan, has appointed a State Safety0 Council and plans are nnder way for the expenditure of $40,000 in National Youth Administration funds to conduct a safety project A state safety director is to be appointed Immediately In Wiscon sin. The newly organized Iowa Safety Council Is already making considerable consid-erable headway. Safety Director Asher Frank, ot Florida, recently conducted a two-day two-day state-wide safety conference. A permanent state safety commission com-mission is being formed In Oklahoma, Okla-homa, growing out of a three ' months' highway safety campaign. A state safety director has been appointed In Nebraska. New Mexico plans a state-wide safety conference. California, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania. Penn-sylvania. Delaware, Illinois, Minnesota, Minne-sota, Kansas, and other states are at work on safety programs. The campaign should not only save lives; it should materially decrease de-crease the number of Injuries. More than a quarter of a million persons last year escaped with their lives from traffic accidents, but bore the marks of Injury. More than 150,-0O0, 150,-0O0, however, will be crippled to the end of their days. Suggestions From Harvard. Doctor Miller McCllntock of Harvard Har-vard university says accidents are caused by four types of conflicts on the highways regardless of speed (which affects only the severity of the accident). They are: 1. Overlaps In the paths of approaching ap-proaching vehicles head-on collisions, collis-ions, etc. 9 Ovprlnno hpfwoon fho mnvlnif vehicles and objects at side of road impact with parked cars, bridge abutments, etc. 3. Intersection accidents. 4. "Internal stream conflict" due to the difference In speeds of vehicles ve-hicles moving In same direction. Overcoming the Difficulties. The proper highway would overcome over-come all four of these basic difficulties, diffi-culties, says Doctor McCllntock. Its requirements would be: ,1. Physical separation of the two streams of traffic moving In opposite oppo-site directions. The new roads with parkways down the middle meet this requirement 2. Traffic lanes reserved for moving mov-ing vehicles only. There would be no parking. 3. No grade crossings for any type of lntersectlonal traffic. 4. Sufficient number of lanes for the segregation of fast and slow vehicles ve-hicles and provision for acceleration accelera-tion and deceleration lanes. Of more Immediate Importance are the clarification and enforcement enforce-ment of existing safety codes, especially es-pecially as they concern the Individual Indi-vidual who Is not likely to be working work-ing directly with one of the organizations organ-izations engaged In the campaign. "The battle can be won," sayi M. W. Cameron, managing director of the National Safety Council, "If every person will take It upon himself him-self to drive carefully, keeping his eyes on the road and his mind on his driving; obey the laws and support sup-port law-enforcement officials; maintain main-tain a safe speed at all times; keep his car In a safe condition; observe the rights of plestrlans and children; chil-dren; be courteous and sportsmanlike, sportsman-like, and set a good example to others." That's the challenge. It's up tn the Individual. |
