PAY ATTENTION!

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30900, 5 November 1965, Page 15

PAY ATTENTION!

’JpWO causes of accidents stand out above all others —failure to yield right of way and inattention. The former cause frequently stems from the latter, says “Road Safety," the official journal of the Road Safety Council, in an editorial. “Inattention also means attention diverted by incidents inside or outside the vehicle that distract the driver. It is not necessarily gross neglect of driving rules. Often a momentary lapse is sufficient to get a sober, careful road user into terrible trouble.

“For example, a driver retrieving the cigarettes he had dropped on the floor had his attention diverted for only a moment. It was enough for the car to veer over the bank, with fatal results.

“A child was eating an orange, and the father, adjusting a handkerchief to catch the drips, took his eyes off the road long enough for the car to career over the edge of the road and overturn. The child died. “These are just two instances of inattentive driving. Some are the result of just plain day-dreaming and distraction by fellow pas-

sengers. Driving is a full-time job and nothing should be allowed to divert your attention while the car is in motion.

“If the baby is crying, you have dropped the cigarette lighter, an insect enters the car or anything else occurs that may require only a small part of your attention, it is better to stop rather than risk death or injury.”