El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-06-27
ACCIDENT DANGERS
ARE EXAGGERATED
Autos Are Not Such Serious
Menace to Life and Limb
as Some Picture Them.

Automobiles and motor trucks are not
nearly so dangerous as IS generally be
Ieved- in fact, they are very little, II
any. more dangerous than horses ana
wagons, according 20 a statement IS
sued by the National Automobile cnan-
Der OF commerce, Incorporated Recent
reports on street and highway accl-
dents and fatalities are misleading IN
this resDect. They fail to take into &C
count several factors that are OF the
utmost Importance in arriving at &C
curate estimates Of the comparative
danger Of different kinds Of VehlcUtar
traffic In the first place, while giving
bare figures, showing the comparative
numbers OF persons killed and injured
by motor vehicles. trolley cars and
horse drawn vehicles year BY year.
these reports do not show the relative
increases or decreases in the numbers
OF such vehicles ia use On their face,
the figures show that the increase IN
accidents Is due almost entirely 10 mo-
tor vehicles, but the simplest analysis
shows that this is due to the fact that
the number Of vehicles is increasing
very rapidly, while the number Of horse
drawn vehicles and trolley cars mas
remained almost stationary for sew
eral years past
Autos Increasing.
Accepting at their face value the re-
ports Of accidents as compiled, analy-
SIS proves that the ratio Of fatalities
TO the number Of motor vehicles is not
increaciug- Thus, report recently
sent out and published in many New
York and other newspapers gave the
total fatalities in New York state due
TO automobiles for the last three years
as follows 1911, Z74; 1912, 34S; 1913,
ISL But the records Of the secretary
OF state show that registrations Of
motor vehicles in the state during these
years were, respectively, 49, SOS, 1851
and 1889 Dividing the number Of
fatalities into the number Of cars in
use, IL is found that in 1911 there were
o.
Tor every 1000 motor vehicles regis
tered. not including the cars OF non
residents driven into the state from
other states, Of which there are many
thousands during the year. In 1912
the ratio was only 3 per 1000, and in
1913 it was 81, or practically the same
as in 1911.
This proves positively that. while
there are more accidents, the increase
in number is due entirely TO the greater
number OF motor vehicles used and is
IN no wise the result OF greater reck-
lessness or indifference to the laws on
the part Of the owners and drivers OF
automobiles and motor trucks.
Accidents Decrease.
Unfortunately no official figures are
available TO show the comparative num-
bers Of trolley cars and horse drawn
vehicles in use in the state during the
several years named, but it is almost
certain that there have been no ma
terial increases. Official figures fur
in Chicago show that the number Of
horse drawn vehicles licensed under
the local wheel tax there has decreased
more than 1000 in the last three years
from 58,1l4 in May, 1910. to 54.037 in
May, 1913. There should be, therefore,
an actual decrease in the number Of
accidents caused by such vehicles in D
There no doubt has been rel I
auively as great decrease in the num-
Der Of horse drawn vehicles in Greater
New York in the same period Several
years ago IT was estimated that there
were about 1900 horse drawn vehicles I
in the city, 50 there probably are today
about 5000 fewer; therefore, the num-
Der Of accidents and deaths due TO this
class Of traffic should be s percent less
than IN 1911 But the accident figures {
given out for New York city show that I
there were 10 fatalities in 1913. as 4
compared with 1T2 in 1911, and 81 in I
1912. Consequently, it is evident that +
the ratio OF fatalities to number Of !
horse drawn vehicles has increased.
Another side Of the matter thar IS I
overlooked altogether Is the relation I
that the number Of accidents bears TO I
the miles Travelled in a day or q year
by motor vehicles and by horses The
OF utility Of the vehicle is the I
mileage II covers IN q given time By 4
way OF Illustration, a delivery horse !
VIII not average more than 20 miles !
q day the year round. whereas a motor
car does . IL times as many. With the
passenger car the difference is even
= ScNe-- " LGA LouElIzs the aulOmO-
Die commonly averages about 100 miles
a day. This is four or five times the 1
distance a horse and buggy or span Of /
carriage horses would cover. The
chances OF accident over 100 miles Of /
T cd naturally four times as great as
on p miles
In big cities the proportion OF motor
traffic is greater than on state roads,
but according to the accident reports
there were 500 deaths due TO motor
vehicles in Greater New York in 1913 1
and 10 due TO horses, or only ] 81 .
times as many Of the former, show
ing that. relatively, the motor vehicle {
drawn vehicles {