OCR Text |
Show Safety Governors of 29 states and the Commissioners of the District ot Columbia Initiated a concerted program of automobile prevention on August 1st, when simultaneous ly they issued proclamations or public statements to the citizens of their respective commonwealths calling upon them to participate In a general movement to safeguard safe-guard life and limb upon streets and highways. The proclamations, messages and statements of the Governors In general commend the activities of the press and the many clubs, societies and organizations which are cooperating and spreading street and highway safety principles. princi-ples. They appeal to all citizens, whether driving or walking, to assume and exercise a sense of personal responsibility in making use of the nation's streets and highways. Cooperation with pro per omcials hi local communities and with state traffic authorities was urged as an important ele-men. ele-men. Approximately 80,000,000 persons were reached by the proclamations proclama-tions and statements. These comprise com-prise more than 65 per cent of the nation's total population. They Include 70 per cent of tne country's coun-try's registration of motor vehicles vehic-les and within their borders last year more than 70 per cent of the total of 34,000 deaths occurred It is only by joint action of every ev-ery individual and agency concerned con-cerned that the nation can successfully suc-cessfully combat the ravages of the misused automobile. Properly hadled the motor car is a safe, convenient, expeditious form of transportation. Handled improperly, improper-ly, it is the most destructive weapon of modern life. Greater care on the part of all persons can effect a reduction in the loss of lives which reached around 34.000 last year, with nearly a million persons injured. Results will be watched with great interest as favorable outcome out-come map establish August 1st as a safety proclamation and make the month a fixed period for an annual combined effort directed toward the solution of this national na-tional problem. |