The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1925-05-28

q - his Constitution or
80 takes some other rad
& @ ical step for the
g greatest good of the
s. greatest number" His most re-
g cent action was in the matter of
s. beverages. What if his next move
g was to untangle some of the big
z problems that have been forced up
. or the nation by the amazing
s. growth of the automobile industry?
. Herbert Hoover, secretary of the
. Department of Commerce, acting as
s. chairman of the Conference on
q Street and Highway Safety, ap-
. pointed a Committee on the Motor
8 Vehicle, and the report of this COM
g mittee, rendered a few weeks ago,
g is of interest to the owners of the
s. 100000 automobiles and motor
s. trucks now rolling through our city
e streets and over our country roads.
e AUTOS Killed 1928 In 1923
s. In 1923, the last year for which
s. complete figures are available, the
8 automobile was responsible for
81 1878 deaths. If an earthquake or
. flood had destroyed every soul in
g Carbonate, Penna., or Ansonia,
81 Conn, the disaster would not have
g been more appalling. And this
. number refers only to deaths. The
e multitudes injured by motor cars
81 mount into the hundreds of thou
s. sands.
. This CHASTITY toll of human life
81 has made the question of automo-
8 bile regulation matter of impera-
. tive Importance. That is why there
g is found cooperating with Sccre-
s. tary Hoover in organizing and fl
. nancing the Conference on Street
& and Highway Safety such orgsniza-
8 tions as the National Automobile
s. Chamber of Commerce, the Ameri-
e can Automobile Association, the
s American Railway Association, the
g Chamber of Commerce of the United
g States and the National Safety
81 Council.
8 In rendering its report, the COM
g mittee stated that many motor cars,
g properly designed and constructed
6 by the manufacturer, were being
s operated in an unsafe condition be-
81 cause of ignorance and carelessness
s. on the part of their drivers. The
. committee recognized, however,
. that some of its recommendations
. were chiefly for the attention of
s. automobile manufacturers. This
. was particularly true in the case Of
. Driver Vision, subject to which
. the committee. devoted the largest
. part of its report.
Better Piston For Driver
. 'oThis is matter of extreme i'm
. portance that in the past has not
. been given the attention that it de-
. served" the committee stated. ct
e applies both to passenger cars and
. to many types of commercial We
= hicles.
e practically all vehicles have been
e built so that the driver has a salts
E factory view through an arc of
& about 20 degrees, or approximately
e So degrees on each side of the
e centerline of his vision. Further
q more, the angle has been much
E wider to the left on right-hand-
e drive vehicles and to the right on
. left-hand-drive vehicles. Unfortun-
= ately an angle at about as degrees
e is the angle at which vehicle ap-
e preaching at right angles is usually
- first seen.
e There are many cars operating
e today in which vision at this point
= on one side or the other is complete-
g ly shut off by heavy door pillars,
. windshield frames or side curtains.
. The driver always becomes partial
- " unconscious of this blind spot and
- is surprised by the appearance of a
- pedestrian or vehicle SO close that
= an accident cannot be avoided.