Evening star., 1923-11-04
MAKING HIGHWAYS
SAFER FOR TRAFFIC
Topic for Discussion al
Motorists Annual Con-
E Vention.

Making the highways safer for
traffic will be among the principal
topics for discussion at the forth
coming convention of the National
Motorists Association, to be held in
Washington November 1917.
The matter of accident prevention,
I'm the opinion of N. M. A. officials, is
not a question of making traffic safe
for the highways, but OF reversing
the process by developing a highway
system that will be safe for the traf-
fic which passes over it. The n. M. A.
believes that this will furnish an en-
tirely new basis upon which to con-
struct it's safety work for the COM
Ing year
The typical non-motoring attitude
OF making traffic safe for the high
ways is in reality a backward step"
declares Executive Secretary Fred H.
Galley. TT parallels the process OF
trying to make the poor of a metrop-
oils learn how to live in tenement
conditions without complaint. And it
must be stopped"
VIII Ask Club Cooperation.
According to preliminary an
nouncement issued from the national
headquarters of the National Motor
lists Association this week. an effort
will be made at the convention to
urge the corporation of every aff1ii-
ated automobile club in the work OF
eliminating from the highways those
hazards which result in accidents,
however careful drivers may be.
1t is pointed out that the highway
departments in constructing new
roads should exercise more judgment
in eliminating curves. grades and
i nv u1t, lie
contend that ten miles of safe high
way serve q community better in the
long run than fifty miles of improved
hut dangerous highway, since every
accident is both an individual and so
cial loss. which adds to the cost of
motoring.
"One of the most recent highways
In the east includes a particularly bad
grade crossing, which renders the en-
tire road unsafe" Secretary Galley
said. Connecting two important
points, with virtually no towns of any
consequence between, the entire
length of the highway is usually trav-
ersed by each motor vehicle which
uses 1t. This means that practically
every motor vehicle which covers the
safe sections of the highway also
covers the unsafe section, and the re-
suit is very much like expecting a
ship to stay safely at anchor when
there is weak link in the anchor
chain.
Road Hazards Cited.
Regardless Of whether our motor
vehicles are inherently safe or un-
safe. and our drivers competent or
careless, little can be accomplished in
safety work unless the roads them
selves are devoid of the obvious and
constant hazards which make for ac-
cidentS.
THE country is in the midst of a
great road-building process and it is
obviously the work Of the progressive
automobile clubs to see that more
new roads and in their maintenance.
Almost invariably the dirt roads
which meet a main highway are run
straight up to the shoulder without
any provision against the tracking
of dirt upon the hard-surfaced road
and the consequent possibility of
skidding of fast-moving vehicles in
wet weather.
The shoulders of large proper
tion of the new roads are not SUBJ
stantial enough, resulting in numer-
Gus accidents which are all the more
serious for the reason that the motor
ist is intrigued into believing that
the new roads are necessarily safe.
Congestion ON Main Roads.
I'm view of the congestion on main
roads and the higher speed at which
cars travel it is highly important that
at frequent lnIcTValS dlOHS any PROM
inent highway pits or special park
ing spaces should be provided for
tourists who are obliged to stop for
tire changes or adjustments.
'Detours are frequently unsafe, and
1t should be emphasized that no new
road is worth having II 1t entails a
large number of accidents during
course Of construction. AS q matter
of fact, with the need for parallel
highways becoming more evident
every day it would be wise policy
to convert all detours into main roads
before using them as relief roads
while rebuilding the older routes.
Safety in Wider Bridges.
''wider bridges and smoother grade
crossings would obviate a lot OF seri-
Gus trouble. There has been, and
continues to be, an unwise assump-
tlon that the average driver Is fully
competent to compensate for the
shortcomings of the routes he trav-
erses. And this has been largely re-
ponsible for much of the present high
rate of accidents"
The National Motorists Associat ation
will particularly stress the impor-
tance Of highway signposting and
safeguarding.
1t is expected that in the discus
sions on making the highways safer
for automobiles the matter of bill
boards will be taken up, since a
number of automobile authorities
have recently condemned highway
advertising as growing menace.