THE ROAD'S TOLL

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 11, 13 July 1931, Page 10

THE ROAD'S TOLL

DRIVERS TO BLAME

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE

EDUCATION NEEDED

Thirty-two thousand killed by automobiles in 1930! Nino hundred and sixty-two thousand injured!

During the World War, people gathered in front of casualty lists and wrung their hands over carnage less than this. Organisations, diplomats, and the leaders of nations have met together since the war to consider moans of preventing future loss of lifo in conflict. Yet day in and day out wo-of tho United States arc making a casualty record overshadowing that which resulted from our participation in tho big war, writes Sam Gibson in the 'Sail Francisco Chronicle." Wo were in the World War for eighteen months; 50,510 of our men were killed and died of wounds; 234,300 were wounded. In the past eighteen months automobiles whirling over the roads of the United States have killed 50,900 of our own people and have injured nearly a million and a half mor is the approximate figure. The best minds of the world arc struggling to banish forever the terrible toll of lives taken in warfare. They are slowly approaching success. Seemingly little can be done at present to prevent this carnage by our swift Juggernauts of the roads. True, we have our safety drives. Only one-tenth of the cars involved in fatal accidents last year gave evidence of faulty equipment; only 5 per cent, of those in non-fatal accidents wero out of perfect adjustment. Faulty brakes have come to be considered as the unforgivable sin on the part of a driver; poor brakes were responsible for only 3 per cent, of the automobile deaths in 1930. Get out on tho road with a set of glaring headlights, and a State officer will have you in no time, yet glaring headlights accounted for only 1 per cent, of last year's road fatalities. If your headlights are out, you arc out of luck, but absence of lights was responsible for but seven-tenths of 1 per cent, of 1930's fatal automobile accidents. . • ■ . IN PERFECT ORDER. Cars involved in fatal accidents last year numbered 32,721; 90 per cent, of them were in perfect condition. Over 1,130,000 ears were involved in accidents that injured persons last year; 95 per cent, of these cars were in perfect condition. Of the 32,500 people killed by ears last year, 27,787 met their deaths in situations where the car was going- straight ahead —not cutting out or turning a comer, conditions usually counted hazardous. Far more than half of the fatal accidents occurred on country highways, where driving conditions would naturally be expected to bo the safest. ■ ■ The figures wore collected from the various State Departments of motor vehicles by tho statisticians of tho nation's largest accident insuraneo company. The facts disclosed are as astonishing as they are appalling. "The accidents caused by faulty equipment, road conditions, and traffic congestion are negligible when compared with the total. What is tho answer?" The official to whom this question was put replied: "Speed! That's the answer. 'Of course, you'll never want to drive 100 miles an hour,' the salesman of the high-speed car tells prospective customers, 'but the speed is there if you want it.' Tho speed is thero, all right; most modern cars, will go 75 to 80 miles an hour. "It is all right to say that the driver will never drive at that speed. But put almostlany man behind tho wheel of a car that will travel at racing speed, and sooner-or later he is going to try to get the maximum out of it., You aro right. Faulty equipment is accountable for but a small proportion of accidents. Remember, though, that such accidents are important enough to warrant tho attention wo are paying to the condition of cars. ' . "It is the human element that is hard to control. There is no restriction on the sale of 100-miles-per-hour cars. Any man who has the price can buy one. Most of us thought that four-wheeled brakes —making it possible to stop a car in much less distance than with the old-stylo brakes— would result in a great decrease m motor-ear accidents. But they have not, because the drivers have wiped out the safety margin afforded by fourwheel braking. By experience, they learn tho stopping distance of their ear; they get in the habit of not steppine on the brake until the last possible instant. I would tell them that it is good practice to slacken speed greatly tho instant they come withm ■,view of road conditions that may develop a hazard.'? FOOD FOR THOUGHT. "However, it is the driver himself who must be perfected before we shall be able to reduce automobile fatalities and injuries to a minimum. The drivers must be educated in safety requirements and public opinion must be aroused. When one views the appalling number of fatalities and non-fatal accidents, the present state of public opinion is hard to analyse. "Whenever we put on an intensive safety drive aimed against speeders, there is an immediate indication, of resentment on the part of drivers. Few motorists wish to admit • themselves among those who need curbing. Catch an otherwise good citizen' driving at a dangerous rate and he is usually filled with indignation. If he gets into trouble, he will try to get out of it by pulling strings and seeking the aid of those he thinks have influence. Do you know that at the height of nearly every one of our drives, there is a clamour for the reduction of the powers of the traffic officials? "There is tho state of mind on tho part of the driving public that must v be transformed before wo can hope to make any great reduction in the slaughter on our streets and roads. We must overcome tho apathy of the general public. We must make every motorist conscious of his responsibility. More education in safety, an enlightened public opinion, and less speed are the elements that will reduce tho automobile death toll." Taking the country as a whole, motorists drove their cars more than 1,000,----000,000 fewer miles in 1930 than they did in 1929—a deereaso of nearly 10 per cent. In spite of this decrease in mileage, there was an increase of 12 per cent, in the number of accidents, 4 per cent, in the number of deaths, and 13 per cent, in the number of those injured. EXPERIENCED. Experience, on the part of the driver, statistics reveal, was no guarantee of safety. The cars involved in over 92 per cent, of the fatal and non-fatal accidents of the year wero driven by motorists with over a year's experience. The youth of the nation may be profiting, when afoot, by the safety measures they are taught in tho schools. However, they don't seem to be profiting by these lessons when they get behind tho steering ivhcel of an automobile. Drivers under 25 years of age caused, over one-third of the fatal accidents during 1930. A chart has been prepared showing the relation of age to safetjj in automobile driving, accord-

ing to tho nuumber of drivers. It shows that the most dangerous age is from 16 to 24 years, reaching the peak at 20 years. The safest drivers arc aged 30 to 60 years.

Again referring to tho report on the country as a whole, over 80 per cent, of tho fatal and non-fatal accidents occurred on dry roads; slippery surfaces were responsible for 15 per cent., and ice for 3 per cent. Eighty-ono per cent, of the accidents occurred in bright, clear weather, fog was responsible for very few, and rain and snow for less than 12 per cent. In fact, nearly every item of the report places the blamo for at least four-fifths of automobile accidents of the country upon tho caroless or inefficient driver and not upon faulty equipment traffic or weather conditions, nor conditions of the road. Which, just now, at tho beginning of tho season of peak traffic, should give every motorist something to think about.'