The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1917-06-05
Record of Iowa Accidents on Roads 10
Higher Than Some Of the
Casualty Lists Of the
War.
TOO MUCH SPEED, CAUSE
Cancellation Of Right to Drive Car
Would be Only Way to Curb
Some Of These
AutoistS.

/ OF course YOU want to live long and
tn keen out of the hospital II you
| do you must learn to exercise srea.
care. The following from the annual
report Of the Iowa highway commits
sion ought to make auto owners slt UP
and take notice. The report ought TO
be preserved for future reading.
Iowa has a gruesome record OF lss
people killed in highway accidents
during the year 1916, according to the
report. Fifty-three Of these deaths
came on railroad crossings. All toid,
newspaper clippings carried reports OF
2,S84 motor car accidents with more
or less injury to 2574 persons.
These records" says the report,
ARE compiled entirely from neWspa-
per clippings. The commission mas no
other means aside from the clippings
to secure this information. lnaccur-
acies in dates, names and addresses
will quite likely be found in these re-
ports. It is also quite likely that
there were many more serious accl-
dents.
TOO great speed for the condition
of the road and the traffic on 1t Is re.
sponsible for the great majority OF
accidents. 1t would appear that fully
80 per cent of the accidents are from
motor cars. A few accidents result
from car breakages and considerably
larger number from inexperienced
drivers. The great majority are due
to absolute recklessness.
TT is rather appalling to consider
the number of accidents in which
lone driver of a car is found dead or
fatally hurt beneath his overturned or
wrecked car. Several men during the
past winter have been found dead and
their bodies frozen solid. indicating
that they had lain under their cars
for hours Instances are on record OF
a number Of people sometimes two or
more In the party, being pinned under
cars. unable to extricate themselves
until some passing car brought assist
ance.
HAD as many Americans been kill
ed by Mexican raiders as Iowa cit1.
zens were killed by reckless car drtv-
ers on the highways of the Hawkeye
state during 1916, there would have
been bloody war between the two ma
tions.
TT is questionable whether legisla-
ton of any kind prescribing q limit
of speed would be effective in reduc-
ing the number of reckless drivers.
Cancellation of the right to drive a
car would, If enforced, bring results.
The only effective way to curb the
speed evil would be to forbid the sale
of high speed cars, for there are reck.
less and careless drivers who will con
tinue to have accidents as long as
they are allowed to run cars on the
highways"
| Following is a list Of automobile
accidents where no fatalities occur
Ired 1t is the record tor seven
months, from June TO December:
| One hundred and twenty autos over
embellishments. IT'S persons with brok
en- bones.
| Two hundred and fifty autos over
embankments, 436 persons cut and
bruised.
One hundred and seven autos turn
! ed turtle, 27O persons with broken
| bones.
Four hundred and seventy-eight
autos turned turtle, 466 persons cut
and bruised.
! One hundred and sixty-fve auto
collisions, 1852 persons with broken
bones.
Three hundred and eight auto col
llisions, 344 persons cut and bruised
Two hundred and four autos collid
ed with buggies, 244 persons injured
Seyenty-one autos collided with
street cars, twenty-eight persons in
jured.
| One hundred and five autos collid
/ ed with bicycles, forty-two persons in
jured.
One hundred and seventy-six autos
/ into distractions in roads, 2S8 persons
injured.
Two hundred and eighty-six people
struck by autos, 2SS persons injured
Ninety autos struck by trains, nine
Ity-seven persons injured.
! Two hundred and two auto acct
dents where auto was wrecked ant
no one hurt.
Four engines through bridge.
Total accidents, 2,5T4.
/ fetal number of people hurt 2S34