Evening star., 1924-12-14

appalling problem of street and high
way accidents. 1t Is "A problem OF
humanity, and personal considers
| lions, as well as the interests OF the
groups represented. have been SWEEP
| aside In their consideration of the
| lives and limbs of the children ard
the men and women OF the Nation.
AT last the automobile manure
turer understands the problems of the
! insurance companies, the railroad
I the street railways and the educator
! "hlle representatives. Of both motor
ISL ana pedestrian appreciate thai
they have mutual obligation to one
another. The PUBLIC official knows
that he is dependent on the all-inclu-
siVe public, while the public undar-
! stands that the public Official Is help
less without the fullest co-operatiol.
/ from all of the people.
The educa tional value Of the com
mittee work alone and the effect il
| will have as it permeates the many
interests represented by the commit
tee members cannot be shown By am
! tape measure designed By the Bureau
OF Standards or any other great SCI
! eHtific institution. ard VIII of itsel>
make great contribution to the 50
luton sought.
| The results o. -!I.s committee Hor..
/ which has been presented 10 tls
| American people !. the form OF eiear
reports. have bee . Commented on -
| great length n t.'n daily p4pers our
! ing the past fIoItIl. ard require No
elaborate review. The reports Them
! selves are available to ali who are
! Interested. The cover every pos
/ siDle phase OF tile subject, from TIL
statistical picture to the public rela-
, tions involved. over loo hundred
conclusions and recommendations are
presented to the conference for cor
siQeratiou. and these have been class
/ fed by the committee or public re
! iations under the toilow.rg headings
L. Definite fi,ing o. r-sponsfbilit.
| for needed action by various elements
OF Government and other social unit
| :. Legislation. regulation and meas
ures for the enforcement thereof
.. Nationwide uniformity Of prsc-
tices.
/. Technical. research ard develos-
ment Of improved methods
.. More adaaute provision OF funds
for facilities, enforcement. etc.
.. Education and other influences to.
secure voluntary cooperation OF a.,
concerned il the traffic problem.
= !: ::
TOMORROW the members OF all ..
the committees together wiki rep
resentatives Of many national crean!za
tions which by reason OF their chsrs1-
teI1stlcs either are o. should be inter
ested in the traffic problem. and man
ether persons vino have some specia
interest IL the subject. will begin :.
three-day discussion OF these recon
TnendattoIs and conclusions III the as
seinbly hal of the Leautiful new
home OF the Chamber OF Commerce q
the United States, ~ Connecticut ave
nue. anu II street. When it is cor
lcluded the United States will have .
/ iSflnirA
for dealing with The traffic situation.
Uniformity OF Laws, rules and req
lations az well as of street and high
way practices are the keynote, aru
opera tfon between the America
people and their constituted author
ties is the final answer. The eiglis
committees organized -: the Secre-
tary OF Commerce have presented tho.
situation and the methods and means
by which corrective II ea Sures may b
applied.
Eut, after All, Il the accident rat. j.
to be reduced it viii be done By edC-
cation in its broadest sense. Ths
public pubic motorists and pedestrian
alike. must De educated first as II
these methods and, second, as to the
application. With the exception OF :.
very small class, it can be assumed
! that every man or woman in th-
. United States stands ready TO CO..
> operate IN any program having the
purpose OF this conference in yjeY
The great national organizations that
have been cooperating in the work
and, as matter of fact. financing i
stand ready to pool their facilities,
their resources, and to continue to
provide the necessary funds IN this
great cooperative movement to solve
What has become one OF our most Sc
rious national problems. All thai
VIII BE- needed from this time on is
1.-THE hearty cooperation OF officials
and private citizens with the move
Tent, and the problem is solved.
In this connection i is interesting
to note that the Conference on Street
and Highway Safety will not end
when Secretary Hosver brings down
his gavel on December j. and an
nounces that il is sijourned sine die
/ The committee on public relations. III
its report. has provided:
A program OF cooperative actor
for obtaining prompt and effective
nationwide attention to and application
OF the recommended ations OF this confer
ence" and
"A temporary committee to assist
In furthering the campaign for put
ting the recommendations into effect
and certain similar committees and
technical experte 70 develop furthe3.
special phases IF the problem, the
| hS|H AZ " il4SAI has tceH p!OuS uD
by the studies OF the other commit
tees. such as uniformity Of laws, reg
ulations, statistics and practices"
This means that joint committee
made up of representatives of the
various organiza tions which have
been cooperating in the work, with
the Secretary OF Commerce as chair
H-i-E. Will carry on as long as neces
sary- to bring about the reforms which
VIII finally be adopted by the confer
ence as its recommendations. This
committee will take over the plans
of the committee on public relations
and set about to make them effective
in every community in every State
In the Union.
This does not mean that any new
safety organization is to be set up
or that any group Of men in Wash
inston or anywhere else is going TO
try and solve the traffic problems OF
every city in the United States. After
all, the actual problems themselves
can be solved only by the local cts-
zens in the various communities But
certain basic principles can be laid
down, and if these communities will
organize their local safety movements
along the lines and conforming with
these basic principles, which have
been worked out by the various com
mittees, they will find the solution
| with infinitely greater ease.