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Show AUTO ACCIDENTS IT i HIGHWAY CBS! 1 1 I 1 I 1 There were twenty-one automobile; accidents at highway crossings on tho j Southern Pacific during tho month of October, resulting In five people be- ing killed, twelve injured and twenty-j one automobiles damaged or destroyed. Of these, three automobile stalled !on tho track and were struck by trains, four automobiles ran Into and struck) the side of moving trains; one at-j tempted to run around a cut of cars 1 being switched in the yards; one in' the course of excitement turned down the track and ran into a cattle-guard; one ran into and broke down a crossing cross-ing gate lowered to protect pedestrians and vehicles while train was passing; eleven attempted to cross almost immediately im-mediately in front of approaching trains. Speaking of grade crossing accidents R. J. Clancy, assistant to the general, said: j "There arc approximately 11,300 I public and private grade crossings on j the Southern Pacific and expenditures for crossing ' protection now exceed I $1000 a day. All public crossings are ! provided with warning signs conspicuously conspic-uously displayed at tho immediate crossing, and in nearly all instances ! there are advance warning signs on ! the public highway located several hundred feet back from the crossing. In the outlying territory where there is a sufficient density o vehicular or pedestrian traffic visual and audible signals are installed, and crossings In general use where view is restricted are protected in the same manner. At points of greatest density involving crossing in cities and towns, gates or regular flagmen are maintained. Some 'Crossings are protected by what is known as a "wig-wag" which is a ! combination disc with red light In ccn-I ccn-I ter, with gong, automatically set In action by electric current actuated by approaching train. "Regardless of this, crossing accidents acci-dents involving automobiles continue to occur with distressing frequency. Confronted Con-fronted with warning signals, with knowledge of the many fatal accidents that have occurred and of the imminent immi-nent danger of attempting to cross in front of an approaching train or without with-out making sure that railroad tracks may be crossed safely, it is difficult to account for the indifference to danger dan-ger manifested by some automobile drivers. On tho Southern Pacific in the' year 1915 more than 500 crossing gates, lowered to protect vehicles and pedestrians from passing trains, were run into and broken down by automobiles. automo-biles. "In 1914 observation tests were made at thirty-four different crossings on the Southern Pacific, where the number num-ber of trains varied between one and fifteen and, the number of train movements move-ments per hour between one and one hundred, and of the 89,072 automobiles, automo-biles, other vehicles and pedestrians observed, only fifteen hundredths of one per cent stopped and looked In both directions. "It Is significant that few accidents occur to automobiles with a single occupant. oc-cupant. Whether the disproportion be due to disproportion of automobiles containing but one occupant, or whether due to the absence of distraction dis-traction and in this sense different j than when two or more people are together to-gether In an automobile or In a room, is a question. Certain it is that distraction dis-traction is responsible for countless mistakes. It is when the mind is distracted dis-tracted that negligence results, mistakes mis-takes aro made and accidents occur. It is for this very reason that many of the large cities have enacted ordinances ord-inances requiring street car companies to paint a sign in the vestibule of all cars "Don't talk to the Motorraan." 'With top up, curtains down, and engine working, It is perhaps difficult for automobile occupants to hear the whistle of an approaching train or the sound of a locomotive or crossing bell, or, gong, but, realizing this and realizing that they are about to cross a railroad track over which throughout through-out the day and night trains are op-crated op-crated In both directions at varying speed, it would seem that, confronted by conditions so imminently involving involv-ing their personal safety, drivers and occupants of automobiles or other vehicles ve-hicles would exercise an essential degree de-gree of caution. "In addition to ringing the locomotive locomo-tive bell there is a whistling post 1320 feet from each public grade crossing and innumerable tests have failed to disclose an Instance where an engineer on reaching a whistling post failed to sound the standard whistle signal. "Large sums have been expended in removing obstructions to vision but In proportion to the number of vehicles, strange as it may seem, approximately as many accidents occur at grade crossings cros-sings with wide range of vision as where they are more obstructed from the view, indicating quite clearly that tho primary cause of these accidents is carelessness superinduced by mental men-tal distraction, distraction resulting either from the driver's mind being engrossed with the operation of his machine or being engaged in carrying on a conversation with other occupants. occu-pants. How els'e may we account for so many Instances where trains are struck by automobiles rather than automobiles au-tomobiles by trains? "If drivers of automobiles or rather vehicles will make It an unvarying rule never to race with a train for a crossing, never attempt to cross in front of a closely approaching train, never attempt to cross without first making sure that It may be done safely, safe-ly, obey warning signals given by bells, gongs or crossing flagmen, and stop when crossing gates are lowered for passing trains, the curtain will fall on this clause of accidents." |