GLASS IN BUSES

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 144, 21 June 1930, Page 26

GLASS IN BUSES

ACCIDENTS AND CUTS

AMEMCA TAKING ACTION '-

The-State Legislatures of New, York, Massachusetts, and Delaware hava under, consideration .Bills which,.if passed, will require the use of nOn-splinterable "glass:—scatter-proof . they call ;-t in America —in the doors, windows, and partitions of .all motor vehicles' engaged in the public transportation of passengers. Such glass is made by laminating between two layers of plate-glass a sheet of transparent, plastic material, such as pyroxylin, the three layers becoming an integral unit when subjected to a. very* high temperature and heavy pressure. The tough, flexible celluloid serves! much the same pur-, pose as a- steel mesh in concrete slabs.

Evidence was given before a committee of the Legislature of Massachusetts that the. need for such a product in the United States, where more than 26,000,000 cars are registered and accidents are now estimated to cost the public, -around 925,000,000 dollars a year, was made obvious by figures compiled by the Massachusetts' Mutual Liability Insurance Association, from twenty-six States, which indicated that approximately 65 per' cent, of the persons injured in motor accidents sustained cuts and lacerations from glass fragments. It was estimated that with the adoption of safety glass by all motor vehicles ;the total number of injuries' in the United States could be reduced by as many as 350,000 annually. VOLUNTARY ADOPTION. it was also stated that largo motorbus operators, such as the Public Service Corporation of New Jersey, were not waiting for compulsory legislation to install the glass, but had already made it standard equipment, and that in the cases of several operators the installation had paid for itself during the first-six months' use as a result of the saving in accident claims. Glass manufacturers who were called before the committee testified that with' recognition, of the importance of this ■product in the field of accident prevention, extensive research had been made and developments brought about., requiring revolutionary changes in the glass industry. Practically all plateglass for automobiles has previously been made in a ttiickness of one-quar-ter of an inch, anil since automobile manufacturers requiro that safety'glass shall be of the same total thickness it was necessary that plate-glass bo supplied in a thickness of one-eighth, of an inch, so that the. total thickness, with the intervening sheet of plastic material would approximate a quarter of an inch. With the. advent of this glass, which is now, being produced in 'commercial quantities/ manufacturers have practically. * rebuilt •.. > their, glass machinery and reconstructed factories in 'order to supply this product. One manufacturer alone is said to have spent approximately ,14,000,000 dollars for these changes. '■■'.'.'■ i ■ Inquiry on. the part of the committee.: members elicited:. the statement from one manufacturer .that,.,, "after determining by< experimental research and actual tests tftat a uniform and stable product of perfect transparency could be made so tough if necessary that it would stop .45 calibre bullets fired at a distance of two feet, our problem was to mako it available in commercial quantities-for ordinary purposes at reasonable prices. These .difficulties have been' surmounted and we believe, with . recognition of its virtues, its us.c will become universal for many purposes."