Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1921-09-27
GRADE CROSSING
PROBLEM FIRST
FOR RAILROADS
Most Important Of All Accident
Questions, Says Vice Presi-
dent Of B. & o.
CARELESSNESS GROWS
AS AUTOS INCREASE
Railroad Official Tells Safety
Congress Of Efforts To
Abate Accidents

congress vi CHOftS 40
Abate Accidents
The following address on rail
road grade crossings before the Ma
tional Safety Council today by an
official of great railroad system
is of timely interest in Americus
following a grade crossing accident
in this city Monday in whidl two
lives were lost.
BOSTON, Sept 27.-(By Asso-
ciated Press.) Automobile accidents
at grade crossings is the most inn
portant of all accident questions that
confront the railroads of the country
at thep resent time, c.. W. Galloway,
vice-president of the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad told the Steam Rail
road section of the tenth annual con-
gress of the National Safety Council
here today.
"lt is now necessary for engineers
to consider all construction from the
standpoint of safe operation" Mr.
Galloway said. even before the hu-
man element enters a plant, science
has done its part TO make conditions
safe and sanitary. This came about
primarily, because of economic ne
cessity.
Il have watched the progress of
the safety work on the Baltimore and
Ohio particularly for many years and
1T IS with no little pride that ] point
a to some of the accomplishments for
sAsafety. In 1915 the casualties among
- employees totaled $3.50 in 1920 the
casualties among employees totaled
6.941, or decrease in casualties
OF 28 per Gent. In 1915 the gross
tori mileage VIE ,3335, 10000; in
1920 the gross ten mileage was 40
S61 ,J02,000,' or an increase of 26
per cent, That means that in 1920,
compared with 1915, the increase in
train mileage, both freight and pas
senger was 13 per cent, and at the
same time our casualties decreased
28 per cent.
100000 Autos Now.
with each recurring year the in
crease in the number of automobiles
and the growing carelessness of the
drivers make it very important that
We devote some extraordinary effort
10 lessen accidents at grade crossings.
we are confronted with the fact that
there are ten million motor vehicles
now i'll use in the United States.
1t was with alarm that I noticed
the reports of grade crossing acci-
oents showing increases month bv
month in 1919, and I determined to
apply remedy. | felt that if the
dflVers of cars could be reached in
umateiy they would heed warnings.
we started the campaign by placing
observers at few crossings where
travel was heavy. When the observ-
Ir noticed the driver of an automo-
piie approach the crossing and dash
over y without taking any precau-
t,onary measures to assure himself
LAT there was no train coming, the
Incense number of the machine was
nlaced on the card. These cars were
'ofWarded to automobile 'commis-
s'oherS according to The state which
issued the licenses. The commission
efS forwarded the cards to the own
cfs of the machines.
These cards, after reciting the
acts of the observation, warned the
af'VerS or owners of automobiles that
'n%lr lives and property hal been
'lSked unnecessarily, and that
,,,ePetlton might bring disaster. In
.He great majority of cases, the re-
g'PIent of the card realized that he
lao been careless and a great many
ercn eye wrote their appreciation of our
NJ, ~ Ioft$ to save them from injury.
mere was a gradually declining per
tenIage of failures to take nrecau-
o,., Few Look and Listen.
when we inaugurated the obser-
WALTON plan, we found that 81 per
cent OF automobiles failed to take
pFopef precautions when crossing our
s'acSs In the three months of No
. vamber, December, 1919, January,
\ $40, we made 1888 observations
ana there was total of 4S4 failures
cent. P
Dnring the year of 1920, we ex.
ended our observations tn TIE 12
nnhs months of that year there were 49,
300 observations with 1926 failures,
or q per cent
In 1921, our observers became
ven more active and in the first six
o,anonths of this year, there were 243-
'oS observations made. and the fail
urcs reached only 8,775 or 3 1-2 per
Tie result Of our observation
,eSuS caused us to have printed more
than 100000 warning leaflets.
slowing on one side bov warning
an automobile to sop before he cross
ed a track. On the reverse side is
photograph of a machine reduced
20 Splinters when struck by a train
at the crossing. We arranged to send
out the leaflets in mail that would
reach the autoist 1t was found that
every business house appealed to
Siadly consented to cooperate in the
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