Show FROM THE UNION PACIFIC MAGA BIAGA ZINE ZI NE 1 1 omaha lmh 6 octo ato b ber er 1 he who hesitates at grade grada crossings is safe says president carl H R gray of tho the union pacific system in his monthly talk tor for october to hesitate means to pause before acting failure to do so has caused the deaths of persons la in the last five years which mr gray reminds us is almost twice the number killed in the battle of gettysburg railroading in america has been so highly developed that serious collisions and derailments der ailments are now rare as compared with thirty or forty years ago large railroad systems sometimes go for years without a single fatal mishap to a passenger on their trains the face value of some accident insurance policies automatically doubles in case of injury in a steam accident one is safer therefore on a train than at home on the other hand why is travel by automobile unsafe mr gray gives two reasons except in a few states automobiles drivers are not examined before being licensed and in not more than one cast out of five does the driver stop and look in either direction at grade crossing something must be done at once to stop this awful sacrifice of human life eliminating all grade crossings is not the remedy according to mr air gray who points out that there are bush crossings in the united states and at an average of it would cost to remove them and at least thirty years would be required to do the work aside aide r from the tact fact that neither tho the railroads nor the municipalities have th the money and that the railroads could raise the tha viloney money only by raisin raising the rates the remedy must be applied here and now the stop look and listen rule can be made effective at once without any cost except the price of a few seconds wait at tho the crossing to let pass the train which by law and common sense has the right of way two features of the grade crossing accident question need emphasizing when a motorist races with a train and scoots over the crossing just in front of it or it if ho he stops but gives the engineer no evidence that ho he intends to do so the engineer suffers a severe no verous shock which frequently unnerves him nor are the file occupants of the automobiles omo biles the only ones whose lives are imperiled by grado crossing accidents recently several trains on eastern roads have been derailed by colliding with motor moter vehicles and engla emen and passengers have been killed the carry on nation wido cross crossings carefully campaigns they maintain warning signs they require engi engineer neen to sound tho the whistle and the bell at every grade crossing they provide crossing bells watchmen and gates where necessary it Is only right that mote rests should do their part by sloping to look in both directions and listen before attempting to cross it if every motorist would take the pledge to do that crossing accidents and not human lives would be wiped out |