The Washington times., 1922-05-27
AUTO DRIVING
|. IS PROVINCE
REC0RDSPROvE
Accidents Have Increased, But
Not in Proportion to Num-
Der of Cars.

!, Automobile accidents make no en-.
tertaining topic for conversation or
for printing. But like all such things
they receive an amount Of popular
attention that is not always in strict
keeping with their magnitude or real
significance.
Not infrequently the constant
iteration OF the obvious truth that
there are automobile mishaps, leads
to the belief that motorists as n class
must be careless and that legislative
steps should be taken to curb the
reckless who operate cars, says a
writer in American Motorist.
Invariably. however. the popular
impression Is that accidents are on
the increase and that since the num-
Der OF fatalities Is mounting, care
lessness likewise must be greater
than ii was before.
Yet the fact Of the matter is that
the present-day automobile driver is
good deal more circumspect than
his predecessor and that the knowl-
edge Of how to operate a car safely
and sanely Is the property Of a great
er number Of people than in former
years. that the law as well as COM
mon sense are going their shares in
Keeping mishaps at a reasonable
level. Indeed, the figures compiled
by the statistical department Of the
National Automobile Chamber Of
Commerce prove beyond chance Of
contradiction that conditions, as far
as they are responsible for accidents,
are constantly improving.
That the number of accidents
| should increase from year to year IL
in a sense unavoidable since the
number Of cars in use rises constant.
ly. Fortunately, however, the mum.
Der OF accidents does not keep step
| with the increase in the number OF
cars in use. but falls behind in a
steadily diminishing ratio. All OF
| which goes to prove that on the
whole automobilists are growing
more careful or more competent. or
both, and that the pedestrian is be
ginning to exercise the care for the
lack OF which he is often criticised.
II is quite interesting to scan the
| figures on which these observations
| are based. In 1915, when 1,754,57O
automobiles were in use, there were
1928 automobile fatalities, or one
death for every 296 cars.
The following year the number oi
automobiles rose to 2.423,7S and the
number of fatalities to 1897, making
one death for every 1928 cars
To the superficial observer the
9,l84 deaths that were caused by au
tomobiles during the year 1917 may
have appeared like a terrible in,
crease in the recklessness OF motor
lists. but in reality the figure meant
further reduction OF the accident
ratio, for 1t indicated that now one
death was laid to every 3S6 cars.
In 1918, although the number OF
automobiles was close to the five mil
lion mark. 4.941 ,276 to be exact, the
9,e72 fatalities Of that year really
reduced the accident ratio to one
| death, for every 5ll cars.
The 1919 figures, which were 1927
deaths and 5.945,442 cars in use, give
one death for every sos cars.
While the 1920 statistics are not
yet at hand the National Safety
Council has estimated that they will
show less than 1900 fatalities. hc-
cepting this figure and dividing II
into the 7,904,272 automobiles in use
in that year we find that one fatality