Show Are Are You u As Safe I As Your Car I By DR HERBERT J. J STACK Director Center for Safety Education Editors note The Center for Safety Education at New York University Is the I only Institution of higher education In Inthe Inthe Inthe the country which Is conducted for the i specific purpose e of teaching teachers toj to I teach safety In the past two decades there have been some marvelous Improvements In Inthe Inthe the motor car itself but no such Im Rn- Improvements Improvements are are shown bv by the driver Drivers haven't changed much lJ UCh from the days when they operated twenty five power horse-power cars at speeds of thirty miles an hour In my article In the American Maga Maga- Magazine Magazine zine I stated that faulty drivers and pedestrians cause tenths nine-tenths of all the I accidents This includes not only drivers I whose skill has grown rusty through through disuse but also those who are now I Intent on going places In a hurry absentminded whose minds arent aren't on their business and those who are emotionally upset and quite literally i dont don't know where they are going Nine out of ten smashups would be prevented If 1 we could wipe out these underlying psychological causes How How- However However However ever emotions cant can't be banished by a amere amero amere mere mero appeal to reason They derive their power from pressure deep within the mind Hero are some things that we will have to get rid ol or to cut down accidents accidents' First I would give top billing to In Intoxication In- In Intoxication for alcohol has depressing effects upon our reactions vision and good Judgment Driving requires the best I of our psychophysical skills alcohol which cuts down this effectiveness breeds accidents I Second place would be given to an an- anxiety anxiety worry and anger People who get upset over things and are worried or angered tend to be accident prone When they run Into difficult situations on the highway they tend to lose their heads and disaster follows Another group of drivers who give I trouble are the daydreamers whose minds are not on the Job Driving is a time full occupation that requires all allor of or our attention We are also finding a large number of accidents due to extremes of fatigue especially at night It takes only a fraction of a a. seconds second's loss of conscious conscious- consciousness ness to cause a a. bad crash conscIous I Impatience also contributes to the toll tollof tollof tollof of accidents People who Jump traffic lights pull out of line or take chances In passing cars on a curve or a hill hUl I belong In this class Similarly bravado bravado- the desire to show off off contributes contributes to a alot alot alot lot of ot trouble Most of us have bad driving habits I of or which we are not aware Like Topsy they Just Some of these come from bad psychological attitudes that have been described above Others come t from faulty driving skills and a n lack of knowledge of the rules of the road Contrary to popular Impression the driver who figures In repeated auto ac accidents ac- ac accidents accidents i I I Is not dumb clumsy or slow In Ini dont don't dontI i reactions Super Intelligent people I make super-drivers super they cause more I trouble than the Physically disabled persons such persons such as amputee vet- vet veterans veterans I erans and those with hearing defects detects appear to have a a. better safety record I than non I All Allot of this goes to show that bad driving attitudes poor attitudes poor sportsmanship discourtesy Impatience Inattention and andI I I the like lIke are are more Important as os causes I i I of accidents than lack oT ol driving skills i i These bad attitudes and practices must r be corrected if it 1 tragedies on our high high- i ways are to be reduced |