Oxford Democrat., 1918-08-27

IL
to hold or the steering gear become In
opei ative. "a sess =
How mang drivers are prone to ignor'
the sign "Roads Closed for Repairs"
I will venture TO say that large per
centage of the drivers smile ut suoh I
sign and pass 1t without thought Thl
careless driver not only passes such
sign, but frequently docs moro than this
II the road has been fenced off, be II
very apt to remove the fence In order Il
pass, and sooner or later he is bound Il
meet his fate. He may drive over ar
embankment or be may get caught In .
blast. At any rate he is inexcusable.
HE DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS LOADED.
This sort of driver is In the same
class with the man who drives In front
Of an oncoming locomotives, and has nc
one to blame but himself for bis injuries
Az In the former case, he often pays the
price with bis life. Such accidents "a
these are criminal and inexcusable and
the driver f1guratively jumps from the
tenth story of building. He is In the
same class with the man who looked In
the muzzle of gun and did not know
that 1t was loaded and probably never
will know that 1t was loaded.
There is another class of accidents
which might be eliminated from the
records, If It were not for the pedestrian.
To certain extent the roads are free,
both to vehicles and to pedestrians, and
there are certain number OF the latter
who feel that they have more right to
the roads than the automobilist. I
wonder how many Of these pedestrians
would countenance the driving of an
automobile on sidewalk? They would
probably be the first ones to raise q
complaint, while these same people
cross the street with no thought Of
vehiculsr traffic. Seven hundred and
four of these ''jsy walkers" we're killed
last year. Perhaps many Of them suf-
fered because of the fact that the auto
mobile operators did not have their
machines under control. At the same
time, however, could not the accidents
have been prevented by the pedestrians,
by exercising little more care?
Not long ago watched man thread
his way across congested street, while
be was reading newspaper. He did
not get hit; not that time, but II I knew
bis name I feel confident that I would
sooner or later find it In the death col.
umn of the newspaper.
Not all of the 704 deaths we're the re-
suit of the pedestrians reading news.
papers, but they might all have been
avoided had the pedestrian exercised
due precautiop. Many accidents Of this
h- kn 20
time. Perhaps the pedestrian runs
across the street in order to board
trolley car. He wants to save minute,
and usually ends by losing considerably
more than the minute.
PARENTS ARE OFTEN TO BLAME.
It Is very strange that parents, who
are themselves careful, do not instill
this ''safety first" idea In their children.
Granting that "boys will be boys"
certain amount of training will instill In
the boys mind sense of personal safe
ty. One hundred and twenty-six boys
were killed because they stole rides on
automobiles. trucks or trolley cars last
year. We cannot blame the boys for
their deaths, but We can blame the par
ents, for It was their fault primarily.
Two hundred and thirty.flve children
were killed while playing on the streets.
The blame In this case also rests on the
parents. The child Is more or less Of an
imitator and, to . certain extent, he is
very apt to court the danger element.
If he sees bis father cross the street In
front of an automobile, he is very apt
to discount the attendant danger, with
out realizing that his parent has sense
of proportion which be lacks. Without
of it, the father has computed
distances in his mind, together with the
speed of the approaching machine, and
realizes that he can get across without
endangering his life. Whereas the boy
is probably too young to work out such
Q problem for himself, and at some time
or other 10 initiating bis father, the
automobile may be just enough nearer
so that he is unable to escape.