The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1912-12-16
1923 VICTIMS LAST YEAR
Increase In Killed and injured on
American Roads
OVER ONE THOUSAND HEARINGS

Washington. Dec. Safety first"
is the paramount rule of train opera
tion suggested by the Interstate com
merce Commission in it's twenty sixth
annual report Submitted today 10 con
gress. Discussion of disasters on Am
erican railroads during the last yeaC
constitutes an important feature of
the report.
IL is pointed out that many of the
accidents resulting in fatalities might
have been dVerted by the exercise of
proper precaution or the employment
of suitable devices and good equip
ment. Figures given show that of the
total OF S,2l5 derailments during the
YEAR 1877 were caused by defects of
roadway and 1871 were due to defec
tive equipment. This indicates an in
crease over the previous year Of 652
I'm the derailments due 10 bad road
way, and 1923 due To bad equipment.
The Investigation by the commission
itself OF railroad accidents involVins
loss Of life, the report says. has pro-
ceeded far enough 10 indicate the need
Ot more effective measures than thus
far have been taken to secure safety OF
railroad travel" While the previous
suggestions OF the commission as To
the adoption by the railroads 1f all
"A f-an 10 no
ing adopted "as rapidly as conditions
will perInit,' and the danger from the
use OF unsound ears is gradually dis
appearing" the serious dangers Of de
tective roadway and the use of un-
sound rails still remain. as a result oi
which derailments are likely at any
time TO occur Concerning its investi
cations the commission says;
Rails are Defective.
OF the 81 derailments investigated
"A were either directly or indirectly
caused by bad track. In 8 OF these
IA cases the deraiiments would prob
ably have been avoided had existing
speed restrictions been observed; bui
in all OF the remaining cases no ade-
quate speed restrictions We're in force
and in 3 cases the track conditions
We're so obviously unsafe that derail-
ments were likely to occur even al low
speed.
In one serious derailment an eN-
animation of the track In the vicinity
of The accident disclosed 900 rotten
Of
lengths. Under many of the rails there
We're AS many as II bad ties ana uh
der each of 2 rails there were IL uea
so badly decayed and broken as to be
totally unfit for service. In many oi
these ties the spikes were so loose thai
they were easily removed by hand the
wood having no longer any hoidin'
power"
The report SAYS that the mos'
disquieting and perplexing feature u
the problem of accident prevention Is
the large proportion of train accidents
caused by dereliction of duty by th'
employees involved. The commission
believes that as a rule there ane n
men that have keener appreciation
of their responsibilities than railroad
trainmen and enginemen." and Yet Il
~ pointed out that 63 per cent of th'
whole number of accidents inVestisa
ted We're caused by mistakes on th'
part of employees.
Preventative Measures.
To prevent railroad collisions ane
quate measures must he taken hrS'
10 reduce the chances of human error
Ia II minimum and second to neutral
ize the effects of such error wheh u
occurs. The recommendations pre-
viously made by the commission i"i
legislation requiring the standard'Za
ton of operating rules and the use VI
the block system were designed 10 re-
dnce the probability OF mistakes pN
employees. and those recommendation
are once more presented for cohs'ue'
alton of congress. Uniformity a"'
consistency In operating rules ar
necessary To secure safety, ana u
not probable that "a satisfactory cou'
which Will meet the demands ol mo"
ern operating conditions can be ~
cured without appropriate ac'io" ''
the federal government
The commission points out that eN
oessive speed has been an importah
factor In many train accidents u"'
that conditions of safe operation ar
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