Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1921-09-18

Washington, D. c., Sept. 12.-When
you see q straight stretch OF road IN
front Of you, don't speed up. You are
going fast enough already. Every time
you decide to open the throttle and
burn the road for little while, you
are in a measure risking your own llte
and the lives Of other people.
At least, that seems to be the opln-
ion of some expert observers OF auto
mobile traffic, who are trying to solve
the ever-growing accident problem.
For example, Harry D. Willar, assist.
ant chief engineer Of the Maryland
state roads commission, finds that most
Of the accidents in that state occur on
straight stretches Of the best road, and
not at intersections or at curves. Pass
ing on such stretches is leading cause
of accidents. Sometimes the faulty
driving or judgment of the man who IS
trying to pass another car is the cause,
and about as often it is due to the fail
IRE Of the man ahead to, give right OF
way H;n..,. observations directlv contra
dict the statement which has often
been made that most accidents on sur
faced roads are due to skidding. They
concur, however, with the opinions OF
many other observers. The danger in
creases in direct ratio as the speed in
creases. Few accidents of any moment
occur in crowded traffic because every
one 10 going slowly, and necessarily
taking q good deal of care. Neither do
many accidents occur on rough country
roads, where it is hard to make more
Chan Is miles an hour. But when one
car il making 80 miles an hour on a
long stretch Of road, and another one
of perhaps 40 miles, the scene is set for
an accident. The man ahead may not
hear the signal, may veer to the left
after the other car is alongside, forcing
It into the ditch or over an embank
ment. Then there is the car coming
from the other direction, perhaps also
ut 40 miles an hour. 1t may be out
of sight around curve mile ahead
one minute. and less than a minute
later, it will be directly in front of the
two cars approaching from the opposite
direction. There are few roads that
will safely accommodate all three cars
in q row.
A Neglected Subject.
It Is amazing how little this subject
Of automobile accidents has been stud
led. You can find nothing but scattered
and conflicting opinions on the subject
And yet the problem is most serious
one. Automobiles kill more people in a
wear in New York state than have been
killed by Mexican bandits and rebels in
seven years, according to one authority.
In four years the number of deaths. in
New York city annually due to auto ac-
cidents increased from 483 to 1918
All over the country it Ia the same.
Auto accidents kill more people than
railroad accidents and more than rob-
bers. Automobiles are the greatest
single cause Of violent death In Amer
ica ard, worse than that, the number
Of fatalities due to them grows steadily
Yet no one seems to have found It
worth while to make thorough analy-
sie Of the causes Of accidents, 90 locat-
ing the chief factors Of danger, and
providing Q basis for their control.
A study Of what information on the
subject can be found brings out strong
II two conclusions. In the first place,
the fundamental cause Of most acci-
dents 10 speeding-the misuse OF tho
ENORMOUS poweI which motor car puts
81 the drivers hands. In the second
place, the control Of accidents ID best
accomplished, not By elaborate traffic
regulations, but By imposing heavy PEN
aides upon Z man when he actually
causes damage ~ his earelessness,
and, shows IL ~ the revoking Of
licenses Tor reD0atAd ok4eusA1 IN Nsw