| Show THE READERS DATE BOOK traffic courtesy will attract many tourists to a home town As pointed out in this column last week the main street that happens to be on a national highway can reap big business for the home town during the next two months millions of americans will spend millions of dollars for lodging gasoline oil food soft drinks and gadgets as they take to the highways to see their country the manner in which the home town jovn greets them and the services offered have much to do with how long the tourist will ager linger and how much he will spend in this connection the home town that keeps traffic moving has plenty of parking space and sate safe drivers will find the tourist more likely to stop these problems differ with each community and are primarily problems that can be solved only on 0 the I 1 local 0 c a I 1 level ira many small towns have found that t h a I 1 STREET driver schools motorist courtesy campaigns alx and safety drives have given their community a good name and proven tourist attractions such campaigns can be worked out with the cooperation of 0 local organizations izat ions the police department merchants and the local publication for the people of this community who plan a vacation by private automobile it would be well to remember that the nations motorists probably will drive into more accidents this year than ever before most of these accidents will be caused by careless drivers men and women who violate traffic laws and disregard the rules of the road what kind ot of driver Is this who will ill be involved in most of this years accidents the composite auto crash of 1951 will involve a sober mature man who has had several years ot of driving experience his car will be in apparently good condition he will be driving along a dry open straight stretch of highway on a clear weekend evening lie he will be traveling too fast he will smash into another car in other words it will be the man just down the street but 0 of course it wont be you many home town motorists will have accidents because they begin a trip without properly checking their automobile here Is an opportunity port unity for the local service station and garage to be of service to their neighbors and friends right now he should be advertising through his local newspaper his services for checking the home lowness low tow ners car before he starts his annual vacation the accident mentioned above and thousands like it need not happen the chances are they will not happen if all drivers drive according to the rules and avoid making the errors that kill and maim those which cause the greatest number ol of highway casualties are shown in the following series of pictures from the coming issue of the lamp a publication of standard oil company passing on the wrong side which leads to many crashes may be either the cause or the effect of poor driving the driver who hugs the white center line and refuses to move over Is lust just as guilty of driver error as ai the motorist who whizzes past on the right M right of way violators cause c a u s e many serious accidents most ot of them occur at intersections that are clearly marked however right of way crashes often happen where there are no such signs but where careful drivers could have avoided the collision the driver who swings out ol of a driveway onto a busy main street without stopping to look odiously violates the right ot of otway way so does docs the driver who upon entering an unmarked inter intersection see or crossroad falls fails to yield the right of way to a car already there it A an 2 no N V rr I 1 t h a speeding Is the number one killer on highways and home town streets in 1950 it took the lives ol of people and injured more it was the tragic error made by one out ot of every three drivers who were involved in last years serious accidents exceeding the legal limit is only one form of speeding driving faster than Is sate safe under existing conditions also is speeding na i N i ky s Z improper signaling confused cont used signaling failure to signal at all or not signaling soon enough before stopping or making a turn are common driver errors that of often ten cause smash ups passing on curves and hills intersections ter and railroad crossings so clearly reveals poor driving judgment that the question why instantly arises I 1 driving on the wrong side or tn in the middle of the road especially at the crest of a hill is another puzzling driver error some drivers do it because they want more room on either side in case of a blowout others fear driving too tar far to the right and some just take their half in the middle k reckless driving Is the symptom ot of a dangerous driver ath attitude tude whatever lorm form it may take like dangerous cutting in it indi indicates catis a selfish disregard for or the safety safely of all others who travel the highway |
