The Monmouth inquirer., 1926-06-24
20 YEARS
COMES ACCIDENT
Statistician Figures Average
Driver Can Expect
Serious Accident.

The average automobile driver may
expect to have serious accident
about once in twenty years.
But one or two per cent of the
drivers should thank their special
guardian angels If they don't smash
a car or run down a pedestrian every
six months or oftener.
This is the way drivers classify
under today's standards and condi-
lions. according to DIR. Walter V.
Bingham, of New York, director of
the Personal Research federation.
One of the large problems Of high
way safety, he says, is to recognize
fncorrigibles before they do any dam
age, and to Danish them from the
steering wheel
Pick Out Repeaters.
Accident "repeaterss cannot be
picked out by outward physical APP
pearance, psychologists agree There
probably are just as many blends
among them as brunettes. They have
no distinctive facial characteristics
or other earmarks.
How, then, can you determine who
will be predisposed to accidents be-
fore the subject begins driying?" The
question was put up to Doctor Bing-
ham, who was chairman of the COM
mittee on causes of accidents report
ing at Secretary Hoover's recent
safety conference, and also to Dr.
f. A. Moss, professor of psychology
at George Washington university and
secretary of the same committee.
'FThere are personal factors which
can be revealed by psychology lab
oratory test of the applicant for a.
drivers license" answers Doctor
Bingham. You can determine exact
" how long 1t takes to act after an
emergency is perceived.
The average driver, we have found,
requires about one-half a second In
emergency to take his foot off the
accelerator and put 1t on the brake.
This means the car travelling at
thirty miles an hour would go about
twenty-five feet before the driver
acted.
Some types of nervous disorders
unfit person to drive, while others
have no such effect. One eminent
psychologist says that q person
suffering from acute melancholfa is
one Of the safest of all drivers, be-
cause he takes extreme precautions
e-aainst accidents"
aagk ExtsBslxs tTests Made.
'rnllle i bS Ha has made extensive
tests 4 intsYthe uFss ( Shows that
was simple device 81 7W 'S't1as. e tbs4u
with this 17cture?" to determine a per-
cepticas " danger. He has applied
the is. proSEd intelligence test to
drivers Earn
A highl91grade of general intelli-
gence is not necessary to be a good
driver, he demonstrated, but sub
normal mentality makes a danger
GUS driver. He found taxicab chauf-
feurs with the minds Of seven-year-
old children, and they were having
trouble.
"A small number of people become
chilled and quite helpless from fear
when confronted by sudden emerg-
ency," says Doctor Moss. 1--WE have
located them in tests on students in
the university"
ut is possible, also, to judge ones
eye and hand coordination by tests.
This is important in passing cars
and driving up to curbs. These tests
are quick and practical and will To-
cate dangerous traits.
women are no more dangerous
as drivers than men, given equal
practice. They have no distinctive
psychological tendency to accidents. ;"
The influence Of fatigue on auto
mobile accidents, according to these
authorities, is marked A tabulation
of 2S,444 traffic accidents in New
York state last year showed that more
than twice as many accidents oc-
Cured during the evening rush hour
as in the morning rush hour