36,000 Traffic Deaths 



It's Time fo Gef Serious About Accident Prevention 



By C. M. SeagravM, Deparfment of Safety 



C. M. 8EA0BAVE8 



IN APPROACHING the startling 

 automobile accident situation one is 

 somewhat bewildered by the vast 

 number of suggested causes and reme- 

 dies. We are told that unsafe highways, 

 defective brakes, glaring headlights, oflf- 

 standard signals, etc. all contributed 

 materially to the 36,000 traffic deaths 

 in 1934. 



However urgent is the need for action 

 in regard to the 

 above causes they 

 all dwarf to insig- 

 nificance when com- 

 pared to the careless 

 or ignorant driver. 

 As a matter of fact, 

 these "accident fac- 

 tors" rarely exist or 

 become dangerous 

 except through prac- 

 tices of the negli- 

 gent driver. Unsafe 

 roads are recognized 

 as driving hazards and speed regulated 

 accordingly by the competent motorist. 

 Brakes are never allowed to become 

 dangerous, and on strange roads the at- 

 tentive automobilist modifies his speed. 

 Actually there are few real elements in 

 the average accident that do not disap- 

 pear when held up to the standards of 

 the thoughtful car operator. 



Question and observe those people in- 

 volved in frequent accidents and you will 

 be forced to the conclusion that although 

 the inexperienced and physically handi- 

 capped take considerable toll, the most 

 dangerous individual is the thoughtless, 

 negligent and careless one. 



Just two things will awaken this per- 

 son — a near fatal smash-up in which he 

 or someone else is injured, or a com- 

 plete change rn public opinion. Up to 

 now we have been blatantly indignant 

 over gang murders and depression poli- 

 tics. But we have been supinely indif- 

 ferent to the massacre hourly perpe- 

 trated on our highways. Often at fault 

 is the individualist who in exercising his 

 right to the use of the roads feels that 

 he owes no obligation to other users of 

 that same thoroughfare. 



The road hog is the fellow who boos 

 and heckles the prize fighter fouling his 

 opponent but who upon leaving the sta- 

 dium in his car will leap forward at the 



flash of the yellow light and gravely en- 

 danger any pedestrian who is unfortu- 

 nately between the curbs. He is also the 

 same fellow who mutters with anger 

 when somebody crowds him a little in 

 the theatre but who on the way home 

 will cut in and out through the traffic 

 forcing other drivers to make way for 

 his selfish haste. 



This kind of indifference to the wel- 

 fare of others must be universally de- 

 spised and openly attacked by public 

 denouncement. So long as this condition 

 exists, so long will we kill a person 

 every 15 minutes and cripple one every 

 five. 



Education can correct most of the 

 reckless driving of youth. Once the 

 young person becomes a careful driver 

 he will seldom be a menace to the safety 

 of others when he matures. Education 

 of course will seldom influence the sel- 

 fish, anti-social person who is incapable 

 of considering the welfare of others. In 

 such cases decisive action must be taken 

 in branding a highway murderer as such. 



Five thousand children were killed on 

 our streets and roads last year largely 

 because of drivers who placed the value 

 of a few seconds higher than the life 

 of a child. The shame of condoning this 

 state of things rests squarely on the 

 shoulders of us all. We shudder at the 

 thought of war, we are concerned at the 

 rumor of disease, we are shocked at the 

 reports of airplane casualties, but our 

 infinitely greater and inexcusable ve- 

 hicle fatalities excite little reaction. Mil- 

 lions of voices are condemning or com- 

 mending the use of public funds for na- 

 tional improvements, but barely a peep 

 is heard for laws to deal adequately 

 with criminally negligent driving. 



We allow no one to carry a pistol 

 without first passing a rigid examina- 

 tion. But we allow anyone, crippled, 

 partially blind, mentally deficient, senile, 

 and the immature to drive automobiles 

 on the roads and streets our children use 

 in going to school. In most cities and 

 communities we have no assurance that 

 the cars people are driving have any 

 brakes at all! 



Many of us have believed that the 

 city is the place to avoid to avert acci- 

 dents. But we have been wrong. Rural 

 communities are far more dangerous. 



Whan you ara traveling a considerable dis- 

 tance and have been hitting 50 or 60 mph on 

 the open highway do you, when patting through 

 a small town, tlow down to the speed you 

 would demand motorists to observe if your 

 children lived there? 



Watch your tpeed the neit time you taka 

 a trip and tee how unreasonably fast you driva 

 through the smaller communities. 



Sixty-four percent of all fatal automo- 

 bile accidents occur in the country. 



This department has been set up to 

 do something about our ever-increasing 

 accidents, particularly those involving I. 

 A. A. Farm Bureau members. The first 

 step in our program is the education of 

 young drivers in proper driving methods. 

 Every county in the state has been in- 

 vited to cooperate in establishing Skilled 

 Drivers' Clubs in which all members 

 will be thoroughly schooled in the fun- 

 damentals of accident-free car operation. 

 There are no club dues. Every son and 

 daughter of a Farm Bureau member is 

 urged to join. Your County Farm Bu- 

 reau will be glad to give information 

 about the club to anyone interested. 



Earl Battles — Eight Years Insured without a 

 Single Accident. 



Since April 2, 1927, Earl Battles of 

 Montgomery County, has been driving 

 his car under the coverage of his Farm 

 Bureau policy. All this time and to 

 date he has had no occasion to call for 

 an adjuster. How many people do you 

 know who have been using the highways 

 for more than eight years without an 

 accident? Count 'em and you'll be sur- 

 prised at their scarcity! 



"Whenever I drive any place I con- 

 stantly keep in mind that above all 

 other things I am going to avoid hav- 

 ing an accident," says Mr. Battles. 

 "Sometimes I am required to surrender 

 my right-of-way to other drivers who 

 don't seem to care enough about avert- 

 ing an accident to drive with reasonable 

 care. But I always get to where I'm 

 going and without injury to my family 

 or the family of anybody else." 



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I. A. A. RECORD 



