36,000 Traffic Deaths 



in 1934 



It's Time to Get Serious About Accident Prevention 



By C. M. Seagrdves, Department o^ Safety 



IX .\ri'i;i>AniiN(; t !i >• stnniini,' 

 aiitonioliile ;u-i-ul< nt .-iluatiui) i>ni> i.< 

 siinuwhat lit'\vil<l>r<.ii by the va.-t 

 nimiln'r 'if sujrjrotcii causts ami i> nio- 

 (lic>. We all' tol<i iha: unsafe Iiic'nways, 

 defi'i'tive brakes. j;larii:ir hi-a<iliirlits. ntf- 

 stamiani sijrnals. etc. all ei>r,tributcd 

 ni;;te!ia:iy to the .';<'i.(UHi tjatHe lieaths 

 in r.':':i. 



H ui '. . ! urjrciu is the iice^i for aetion 

 in r e >r a r d tf the 

 ali'ive raust's they 

 all liwarf tn ii;s!i:- 

 : ifiearife whf!: eoiii- 

 pared !•> the eureless 

 •r :!ri!iira!;! ilriver. 

 As a matter of fact, 

 these "acficlent fac- 

 tors'" rarely exist <ir 

 become lianirerous 

 . Ncept throujfh prac- 

 tices of the nepli- 

 C. M SEAORAVES jrent driver. Unsafe 

 roads are ric.ipnized 

 as driviiisr hazard.s and speed reu'ulated 

 accirdiiiirly by the competent m'ltorist. 

 Brakes are never allowed to become 

 dan<rirous, and on stranjre roads the at- 

 tentive automobilist modifies hi? speed. 

 .Actually there are fiw real elements in 

 the averi'sre accident that do not disap- 

 pear when held up to the standards of 

 the thoujrhtful car operator. 



Question and observe those people in- 

 volved in frequent accident? and you will 

 be forced to the conclusion that althoutrh 

 the inexperienced and physically handi- 

 capped take coii-iderable toll, the most 

 danirerous individual is the thoujrhtless, 

 nefrlitrent and careles.s one. 



Just two thintrs will awaken this per- 

 .son — a near fatal sma.-h-up in which he 

 or somione el.se is injured, or a com- 

 pletfj chanire in public opinion. Up to 

 nfiw wi- have been blatantly indignant 

 .iver j.'atiy murders and dcpres.sion poli- 

 ties. Rut we have been supinely indif- 

 fcrfiit to the mas.-aire hourly perpe- 

 tra'ed on our hitrhways. Often at fault 

 is the individualist who in exereisini; his 

 richl to the use of the roads foels that 

 he i.wes no obligation to othi r users nf 

 'bat same thoroughfare. 



The r'.ad h'lg i.s the feli..w who b'.(i> 

 and heekb-'^ the prize tighter fnuling his 

 .opponent but who upon leaving the sta- 

 dium in his car will leaji forward at the 



ti;i-h of the yellow ligln and gravely en- 

 danger any peik'strian who i> unfortu- 

 tuite!y between the curl>s. lie i> also the 

 same fellow who mutters with anger 

 when sonubody crowds him a little in 

 the theatre but v.ho on the way home 

 will cut in and out through the traffic 

 {• icing other drivers to make way for 

 his seltish haste. 



This kiiiil of inditTereiiee to the wel- 

 fare of others must be universally de- 

 sjnsed and openly attacked by public 

 lienouncement. So long as this coixlition 

 »Nist>. ^o long will we kill a i^erson 

 every I."i minutes and cripple oi;e every 

 five. 



Kducation can correct most of the 

 reckless driving of youth. Once the 

 young iierson becomes a careful driver 

 he will .>elibon be a menace ti> tile ^afety 

 of oth« r.~ when he mature>. Kducation 

 I'f course will seldom influence the sel- 

 ti>h. anti-.=ocial per.-on 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 ilrivers who placed the value 

 of a few seconds higher than the life 

 uf a chilli. The shame of condoning thi.s 

 .~tate of things rests squarely on the 

 shoulders of us all. We shudder at the 

 thouirht of war. we are concerned at the 

 rumor of disease, we are shocked at the 

 reports of airplane casualties. l)Ut (^ur 

 infinitely greater and inexcu.sable 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 adeiiuately 

 with criminally negligent driving. 



We allow no one to carry a (listed 

 without tir^t passing a rigid examina- 

 tion. But we allow anyone, crippled, 

 partially blind, mentally deficient, senile, 

 and the immature to drive automobil<>s 

 on the roa<ls and streets our children use 

 in going to .school. In most cities and 

 cmniunities we have no a-^uianee that 

 the cars people are driving have any 

 brakes at all! 



Many ■•f u< havi- lielie\c.i tt;;it the 

 city IS the place to avoid to avert acci- 

 dents. But we have been wrong. Rural 

 eoiiiinunities are far more dangerous. 



When you are traveling a considerable dis- 

 tance and have been hifting 50 or 60 mph on 

 the open highway do you, when passing through 

 a small town, slow down to the speed you 

 would demand motorists to observe if your 

 children lived there? 



Watch your speed the neit time you take 

 a trip and see how unreasonably fast you drive 

 through the smaller communities. 



.■^i.My-four peiceiit of all fatal automo- 

 bile accitlents occur m the country. 



This dejiaitnunt has been set up to 

 do something about our ever-increasing 

 accidents, particularly those involving I. 

 .■\. .\. Farm Bureau members. The first 

 step in our program is the education of 

 young drivels in proper driving methods. 

 Kvery county in the state has been in- 

 vited to cooperate in establishing Skilled 

 Drivers' Clubs in which all members 

 will be thoroughly schoided in the fun- 

 damentals of accident-free car operation. 

 There are ii'i chili dues. Every son and 

 daughter > f a Farm Bureau memlier is 

 urged to join. Vour County Farm Bu- 

 reau will be glad to give information 

 about the dub to anyone interested. 



Earl Ba*ttes — -Eight Years Insured without a 

 Single Accident. 



Sinco .April 2. l'.i2T. Earl Battles of 

 .Montgomery <^"ounty, has been driving 

 his car under the coverage of his Farm 

 Bureau policy. .-Ml this time and to 

 (late he has had n<i occasion to call f<ir 

 an adjuster. How many people do you 

 know who have b<'en using the highways 

 for more than eight years without an 

 accident ? Count 'em and y<iu'll be sur- 

 prised at their scarcity! 



■'Whenever I drive any pla<e I i-oii- 

 stantly keep in mind that above all 

 other things I am going to avoid hav- 

 ing an accident," says Mr Battles. 

 ".Sometimes I am re'|uire<l to surrender 

 my right-of-way to other <lrivers who 

 don't seem to care enough about avert- 

 ing an accident to drive with reasonable 

 lare. Rut I always get to where I'm 

 going and without injury l<i my family 

 oi the family of anybody else." 



I. .\. .\. KKCOKI) 



