The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1921-11-20

To substantiate this claim, an Age
Herald reporter called upon Fire
Chief Sidney A. Middleton. His is a
life of strenuosity, of speed. The big,
red, high-powered car which carries
him to the scene of all the fires dashes
through the streets at binding rate
of speed. In the town traffic.
bursting by street intersections at
40, so and sometimes so miles an hour.
1t does seem that the big red car
stands better chance of crashing
into and demolishing cars coming out
OF street intersections than any gas
driven vehicle IN Birmingham.
Never Hind Accident
Yet in the long years of service. In
the mad swirls through the traffic,
in the squirting dash by corners. in the
rounding of almost square curves on
two wheels. the fire chief has never
suffered serious accident.
The fire signal The changing of
bells. Here comes the chiefs car,
sounding its weird siren. You've seen
him dash up the street hundreds of
times, leaving trail of gasoline ex-
haust in his wake. You've seen him
pass intersections with the throttle
wide open. You've looked expectantly
as he hit the crossroads. expecting
him to crash and demolish car
coming out of the other street. But,
you've never seen what looks to be
the inevitable accident. Why? Be-
cause the fire chief is careful. He
has his eyes glued to the road. He's
alert for any emergency. If motorists
of Birmingham would drive with the
alertness of Chief Middleton the ac-
cident list won iwddldnieh,fg rNf-
cident list would dwindle down way
below part in the course of a years
time.
The fire chief is another who says
that carelessness, rather than speed.
Is the cause for the growing list OF
accidents. THE man at the wheel
takes too much for granted" says
Chief Middleton. HE pays more at
tention to the business of CONVERSE
ton than he does to the business Of
driving. A man can't do two things
at once and do each one well. If he's
interested in the conversation he's
carrying on he's bound to give that
more attention than he is the guild
ance of his car. And, with the wheel
neglected and a pedestrian in the
street, weighing some business prob
lem in his mind and not paying atten-
ton to the traffic a crash Is bound to
come. If motorists would save their
conversations for more appropriate
time and place and delay their window
shopping until they have a better
vantage point on the sidewalks, after
the car has been parked, it would
make for a smaller number of acct
dents in Birmingham"
Carelessness To Blame
Speed, to be sure. is not to be sane
| fInnad hfIt a he In "a -
owner and driver of the Magic City
should remember that all the mod
crate speed in the world is not going
to stop the life leakage in Birming-
ham and Jefferson county unless a
greater care is given to the art OF
steering, and a more strict observ-
ance of traffic laws. The driver
takes too much for granted when he
backs his car from its parking space
at the curb. He comes sailing out
with a backward sweep, rather than
electing a creeping pace and looking
behind to see If another car Is com
ing. He turns corners the wrong
way. he turns 'em without holding
out his hand, he stops in the middle
of the street with no thought of the
motorist behind, or no signal to him.
How many times have you seen a
cut-down roadster in the busiest sec
ton of downtown. turn corners with
his eyes rowing the Sidewalks for a
glimpse of a pretty ankle, a smiling
feminine face. or some friend he has
promised to pick UP in that section,
with never a thought of the wheel in
his hand, or the criss-crossng cars
coming from other streets?
Another good example that alert
ness makes for less accidents is the
record of James J. Kelso. who has
been driving an ambulance for is
years. He is seen seated at the wheel
of an invalid carriage pictured above.
The ambulance boys are looked upon
as the most daring dare-devils in the
city. Theirs is a life of get-up-
ard-get. It's always a race to the
scene of an accident. Once there. it's
always race between life and death
to arrive at the hospital before the
life blood of a patient has been ex-
J hausted There comes a hurry call
over the phone. The ambulance man
hops to the wheel with alacrity, he