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Show AUTO COLLISIONS If WITH HAIL TRAINS: REASONS WHY It is truthfully cnid that ther are H always two sides to every' question and j H in the case of accidental collision ; Eg with railroad trains the question of responsibility is dearly drawn by the parlies concerned It is safe to aay ' that collisions at railroad ( rossings are always accidental for the driver of a vehicle does nal purposely bump into a train of care and it la just ns certain that no engineer of a train I of cars purposely run down the common com-mon highway traveling rig The all- i absorbing question is, who has been careless and negligent of duty Each I pany baa the right of way and each is desirous of avoiding the collsision, I I '. 1 1 1 many of these accidents happen each day of tiie year and it is ery : ertain thai some one is to blame for , thom. 1, its nn!U mmnn fnr mnUrlolo and others traveling the high way to place the responsibility for projection against injurs upon the railroad train crew. However; you may rest assured ! that there are two sides to this ques- I tion Be that as it may; the grear point for consideration is that of j mllmizfng these accidents. To thai j end a campaign has been Inaugurated En b the railroads of the country for the I application of "Safety First" rules'. A railroad man gives his version of thte accident question which deserves careful consideration on the part of every person who travels the highways i in a couhtrj where railroads are operated. He has the following to say : "You don't realize what a nervous strain you are putting on a man in (he Cab when you dash up toward a M crosing just ahead of his train. There n he js In his cab and he knows that he H can" stop the engine. There you are ft! in vour auto speeding toward tin 0 'Tossing just ahead. You probably a know that yon are going to stop just B at the edge of the track and look up B and laugh at hirn. It's a joke, maybe H to you. To him it's a few seconds of the most intense agony Why do you jy do it? When you see a train com- H ing and know that you can't make the I crossing and don't intend to try to m make it why don't you slow down ' I and give tin- engineer the assurance Rj that his train la not about to hurl m you into eternity0' "How and why do these accidents ' flj accur, you ask? M When during four months :;0 au- m tomobiles run into and hit the train instead of the train hitting them, when kg during the same period L6 automo- 9 biles run into and brok'- down ross- I ing gates lowered to protect them 1 from passing trains, when men with 1 their families drive automobiles into B trains or immediately in front oft a fast approaching train, I confess I do ' not know. U ' I know that engineers try to avoid M them, for, -apart from the danger of derailment and possible loss of their own life, they do not want to injure anyone if llK-y can avoid it I know E that the management has and is tr- 9 ing hard to avoid them for il la Bpend- k Ing upwards of $1000 a day for flag- men, has expended lare sums of B money for installation of crossing H gates, visual and audibly signals, warning warn-ing signs, and removal of trees, BtTUC- R tnres and other obstructions to vision Notwiihsanding the attending facts it j S is not inconsistent to assume thal 9 drivers of automobiles do tr to avoid H accidents, for it does not stand to J j reason that a man with his wife and M children, or with friends, or alone, j H would intentionally run Into a train 3 orattempt to cross the track Imuudi- H at-ly in front of a fast approaching M train. "Drivers of automobiles probably do not realize that a train running 50 'I miles an hour requires loss than a 1 H fourth of a minute to one-fifth of j H a mile. Then, too, the driver may N have his mind occupied with the op j I eration of his machine or ma be con- Bj versing or earning on a conversation j I with some other occupant of the car B and with his mind thus distracted pro- H ceeds to cross the track without mak- H ing any effort to determine whether I he may do so safely There are few . if any crossings where the driver has J I not adequate range of vision, but witn ; nearly one-third of tb total accidents 0 occasioae 1 b.' automobiles running in- E to trains and running into and break- B ing down crossing gates it would ap- m pear that visibility is by no means a paramou'nt factor loreoer an analv m sis of accidents disclose that they oc- ' H cur proportionately at crossing where ' 9 vision ls unobstructed as where re- ; I stneted. Of course crossing in dense- H ly traveled districts, or crossings I where conditions essentialize addi- gj tional safeguards, are protected by I flagmen, gates, wig-wags, lights, gongs I or bells, in addition to standard warn- ; M ing signH. "Mistakes made in working levers due to excitement or confusion may I account for some of the accidents. I believe, however, that the primary cause of most grade crossing acci- i dents is lack of attenwon to essential essen-tial duties supplemented on the part ' of the driver. "With trains running at varying speeds in both directions throughout the day and night no driver should attempt to cross the track of a railroad rail-road at grade without first making sura that it may be done safely, stopping, listening and looking in both directions, when necesary. The management man-agement and employes are doing a"nd will continue to do their utmost to prevent accidents but in this respect success in an appreciable degree is conditioned on earnest public cooperation." |