The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1920-10-31
SAFETY FIRST IS
| LOSING ITS FORCE
Nincty-nine Per Cent. Of Ac-
cidents Are Due to
Carelesspess.
ny HI. CLIFFoRD BRoKAw.

A. Automobile Schools.
The long list Of motor accidents, with
fatalities and injuries and wreckage,
which appears especially In the Monday
morning newspapers, makes II apparent
that the safety first slogan of warn
ting has LOST its punch or course II the
driver does not care whethe4 ne BREAKS
his neck or not and insists upon taking
chance no amount OF advice or eau
ton will have any effect, but the driver
who does care Tor his own SAFETY and
that OF those who are in the car with
him had better print the words stop
Look Listen !" upon the windsn- ED
until they have been burned ndeIiDly
upon his mind
Ninety-nine per cent. of accidents are
the result of wilful carelessness OF neg
ltgence only l per cent. can be blamed
upon imperfect.ons OF the automobile or
causes beyond the control of the driver
In nearly every case also where the in
nocent party suffers he might have pre-
vented the other fellow from smashing
him up.
There are lot of people driving au-
tomobiles to-day who know nothing more
about II than ability to turn the steering
wheel and move the levers and pedals
which control the car. Many of them
do not know why or how these devices
work How can they be intelligent In
operating the car when thus ignorant
Of it's makeup? II is the best proof of
the mechanical perfection of automo-
biles that they go right even though the
(, driver is ignorant.
The great fallacy with the automobile
driver Is that when the car has been sue
oessfuly pioted few miles without
accident driving has been mastered. AS
q matter of fact he probably has been
fortunate In not having run into COM
oination OF circumstances that called for
real ability. He hasn't yet had to make
quick stop on q slippery pavement !;
he hasn't descended long. steep hill
with the car heavily loaded. nor had to
turn out into the soft dirt or hidden
ditch at the side of the road. He hasn't
come In contact with the other novice
who depends upon him to get out of the
way. or the bullheaded driver who win
not have pity upon his very evident
ignorance and give him more leeway
than the law calls for. nor the me- diocre
driver who Is inca pa BILE Of covering his
mistakes He lacks experience.
There Is no dorbt that real arto-
mobile drivers are born with natural
talents. as are artists. musicians and
other geniuses. and as a very small
percentage have this real talent II be-
Eooves the average man TO study hard.
as he drives carefully and get his expert
ence In small. inexpensive doses He Is
not an experienced driver until he has
handled a car several wears under an
conditions. and he Is only fooling himself
f he believes to the contrary.
great many of the accidents come
from doing the wrong thing at the
right time. Much OF tho success In
driving an automobile denends upon two
things-operating the steering wheel and
levers automatically ard yet being abb"
20 have the brain a'ert and correct ir
Judgment. Many accidents have occurred
because. when the occasion to TN" N
steering wheel came b-ain and hands
were not working together and he mn
was made the wrong wav. The driver
knew better. but that did not prevent
the sma ship.
True. n man cannot really drive until
ne does the various things as serond
nature but unless thew are done intelll
gently and properly they might better
not be done at all And experience ard
Judgment are required 20 achieve fhe
proper result Then there are all sorts
OF emergencies which REQUIRE spe"ia'
things done Thew must he done quick
and they must be done right.
But there are many accidents which
grow out Of the devil-mav-care attitud
or some motorists. II 10 not thu largr
number Of cars on the highways but the
occasional reckless driver that helps pile
rp the list IF facilities Ther there r.
those who insist upon snaeding past tn.
car ahead If them. The other fellow
may he gong as fast as the law allows
but there seems 10 be an inherent incl
nation not to toxic the othnr fellow.
dust. or else u Is the desire 70 get ahead
% the other follow Hitt'rg har nm I
the cause Of great deal OF trouble. am
II matters not whether the driver I!
controlling f'ivver or a Rolling Row
ster most of them want to be at tn
front OF the procession.
Accidents are very frequent In tn
country around New York hecauee s.
many drivers take chances at the inter
sertio-s ~ other roads whore there u
no traffic policemen " IL never SAT
TO approach road intersection al hir'
speed unless one can zoe long wav 4
each direction n does not make an,
difference after the accident .whethe
you had the rivht on your side Yo'
may have had the right ~ way hui tn,
other fellow did not recognize II and :,
save a second or two YOU Kicked you
life and limb. "a well as those OF tn
folks IN the rear seat. The "eafet'
first" idea here would have eavaS y ~
sometimes there is extra danger afte
q shower when the roads are slippery
The driver. IN hurry IN get home. step
on the g7s tries n fr~n y co-ror ~
curve IN the road with his foot on IN
scceierator and perhape without SIS
chains on mo rear wheels and the mex
thing 'eIephone pole gets In the wa
ana things hanpen.
There Is fellow who always has =,
speed NJ when he meets the loco-notiv-
at the crossing and IN snite ~ the sig,
which bids one "Stopl Looki Tde,en 7
and perhaps bell ringing n wa -ni-p
There ar~ hundreds ~ foo'hardv driver
who persist IN taking chance Tn
same fellows VIII sreed ahead ~ n troll
ley which IL perilous'y near n Is IN,
possible ~ gauge the speed Of a train n
trolley from an automobile. Even a,
experienced railroad man cannot gaur
the speed without some fixed object I
measure nv.
Another class OF accident comes ho
cause the dr've- fai's to racovrizo ~
rights 81 pedestrians IN the highway
he seems 70 think II Is the business q
TIE pedestrian 20 got out Of rho w.
when n 70 --a'.4- '--v e.. o.
6cstrian has first RICH, IN any part n
any highway unie % AVA.
vateiy controlled road like the rro,o
speedway
These are not all the circumstance
Cnder which caution is nerosvar-v Tna~
Mare others. such as looking out sor a.