Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1916-02-07
Fifteen HUNDRED INJURED IN
ACCIDENTS ON IOWA HIGH
WAYS DURING PAST YEAR.
SPEEDING AND BOOZE
TAKE HEAVY TOLL
inexperienced Drivers Also Contribute
TO Number of Mishaps-One Death in
Every Fifteen Aeeidents-February
Bulletin Of State Highway Commits
sion Record May Not Be Complete.

| DeS MoineS, Feb. Z. - EIGHTY seven
persons We're killed and 1900 severely
injured in automobile accidents on the
| highways of the state during 1915, &C
cording to a report made by the Iowa
highway commission. Two-thirds OF
! the accidents were due to speeding,
! inexperienced driving and the use OF
intoxicating liquors by drivers, the
I state officials assert.
The February bulletin Of the high
| way commission, just issued. gives
the names Of nine persons killed dur
The record of accidents for the state
is not complete. 1t is made up from
newspaper dispatches, as the law does
; not require the reporting OF such &C
cidentS to the state. the highway
commission records only the accidents
which happen on the public roads and
takes practically no account of the
auto accidents in cities of the state.
One in Fifteen Killed.
The commission says that a study
OF the figures indicates that one acct
cent of every fifteen results in a
broken bones or internal injuries. The
board severely condemns autoists who
drive at an unsafe speed on the nigh
ways.
The highway officials assert that
road conditions caused but few of the
accidents last year, except where I'M
safe speeding was contributory. On
this topic the bulletin says:
which IS safe on a perfect roadway,
free from obstructionS or other We
hicIes. may be extremely unsafe on
roadway which is rough, rutted, or
obstructed by traffic. In a majority OF
the accidents the cars turned turtle.
No matter whether the driver is strict
~ sober or partially or wholly intoXl-
Gated, barring breakage of the ma
chine, there is usually some road con-
dition somewhat responsible for such
accidents. Rough spots, ruts, stones,
sticks, or slippery condition Of the sur
face due to rain, make instantaneous
demands upon the driver at the steer
ing wheel of a speeding car and the
slightest false judgment or move in
stantly sends the car rolling oyer and
over down the roadway or into the side
ditch.
Poor Drivers Blamed.
There We're a number of fatalities
that. are traceable to inexperienced
driving. Two Of these occurred with
drivers. who had never before touched
a steering wheel, yet they were driving
cars at good speed in which there were
several persons. One woman lost her
life when she grabbed the steering
wheel as the car which her husband
was driving skidded. One women and
one man lost their lives when cars in
which they were riding plunged off
entertainments where bridges had been
washed out. Three lost their lives
when cars struck avoidable obstruc-
tions in the roadway and were
wrecked. Two lost their lives when
cars went, off the ends Of short Gull
verts partially hidden by grass and
weeds. Two drivers were killed when
they attempted to take turn TOO fast
One went off the end Of a bridge and
was crushed beneath his car. The other
| landed beneath his upturned machine
in a deep ditch. Two men killed their
engines on hills, lost control and when
| their cars turned turtle near the bot
| tom of the hill We're crushed to death.
| Glaring headlights caused many acct
| dents and at least two deaths resulted,
! one from driving car with only a
/ lantern for headlight and the other
! with no headlight.
Booze Responsible Also.
"A study of several hundred clip
pings covering automobile accidents of
all degrees of seriousness would indi-
| cate that about one accident in fiftee,
results in a fatality and about one in
three causes broken bones or Internal
injuries. For every person killed IL
would seem that there Is an average OF