SAFEST CITY.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19803, 16 December 1929, Page 8

SAFEST CITY.

U.S. COMPETITION. The title ri '''safest city in the United States'" his been g:. en to Kochester, K.T„ by the MJtor and Equipjoent Association. Under its auspices ?■ ration-wide contest was conducted, with the result that at the eighteenth annual National Safety Congress, recently held here, Rochester received the first place bannri. Scrolls representing second and third Awards in the contest were presented i« Baltimore, Md., and Louisville, Ky. The eontest ran from September Ist, 1928, to Sept. J, 1029, and the awards were based on the least number of accidents and fatalities in percentage with the population of the respective •itiea. Strict biw enforcement, arousing pnblie interest in the need of gTeater safety and the <-o-operation of various Organisations and agencies, are some of the reasons the cities attribute for their feeords in the contest. Rochester carried on for 62 consecutive days -without a motor vehicle fatality. Other cities finishing among the first 20, in the order named, were Wilmington, Del.; "Worcester, Mass.; Cleveland, O.; Portland, Ore.; Grand Uapids, Mlch.; Duluth, Minn.; Atlanta, Ga.; Providence, B.I.; Birmingham, Ala; Memphis, Ten.; Boston, Mass.; Toledo. O.; Decatur. 111.; Richmond, Va.; Wheeling, W., Ya.; Jamestown, N.Y., and Springfield, Mass. DON'T FOR DRIVERS. Th» "Light Car and Cyclecar" in a freeent article draws attention to comaion but little recognised driving faults. On the subject of obstruction It says a prominent cause of obstruction Is leaving a ear level with another vehicle which is already stationary on the opposite side of the road. In the average village street this will leave room for only one car, and, ii there Is any considerable amount of traffic, hold-ups are bound to follow. It is an easy matter to stop 20 yards or so farther along the road, and everyone who has a thought for others does so. greatest parking crime of all is •topping on a blind "bend or sufficiently aear to one to block the view of approaching drivers. In this case the ineonsiderate motorist not only causes obstruction and inconvenience but very real danger. Bond street, London, is becoming almost impossible to the owner-driver-thoppef, and this fact is being realised by the shopkeepers. A firm which has been in business in Bond street for more than a century has been fprced to Stove to Mayfair court, on the corner •f Stratton street. The congestion has become a menace to business, and it it understood that several other firms contemplate moving out of the street to places where their clients can be permitted to leave their cars for the few minutes necessary to do their or*inary shopping.