Evening star., 1927-10-09

annual safety congress held in Chi
cago under the auspices of the Ma
tional Safety Council indicate that
safety first Is one Of the lessons that
the American people will never learn.
The annual toll of accidents in traffic,
mine, mill, construction, the home.
the water and the air approximated
10000 deaths last year and many
times that number of injured and
maimed-almost as great a death toll
as was taken by heart disease or tu-
berculosis, the two dread scourges OF
mankind.
And while the experts say that all
types of accidents, save those caused
by motor vehicles, are being reduced,
the decrease is said to be far from
encouraging, in view Of the efforts
that are being made to impress upon
the public mind the Importance OF OBJ
serving easily understood and easily
observable fundamental precautions
that are safeguards against all man
ner of accident.
The National Safety Council has
been carrying on its educational prop
aganda for some 16 years. Beginning
with limited resources last year, its
expenditures totaled over 100000.
But the good it has accomplished Is
to be seen, not so much in concrete
figures of reduced accident rates as
in estimates of what the annual ac-
cidental death and injury statistics
might show If the council and allied
organizatio had not been carrying
on their work.
Safety is the most potent and per-
haps the most important word In the
English language, declared one OF the
speakers at the congress. He indi'
Gated considerable doubt, however.
that Americans would ever really
grasp and react intelligently to its
significance and meaning. The acci-
dental death rate in the United States
was more than twice as great as that
in England and Wales for the last
year, for which comparisons can be
made, and the suggestion Is offered
that If we are the enlightened and
progressive people we claim to be we
ought to make a better showing in
the one field where ordinary common
sense and the instinct for self-preser.
walton should be the predominant
factors.
Where Most Accidents Occur.
Accidents in this country fall into
three major groups--those caused by
motor vehicles, those in industry and
those in the home. The automobiles
toll last year was $4,000 deaths, while
from 20 1000 to 5000 were killed In &C.
cidents in industrial establishments
and a like estimated number in acci'
dents in the home.
The death rate from automobile &C.
cidents, excluding collisions with trains
and street cars, increased from 2.2
in 1911 to IT in 1925. No other type
Of accident showed anything like such
an increase in that period. A study
Of 96,715 motor vehicle accidents that
occurred last year shows that nearly
70 per cent involved private passenger
cars. In 2,790 cases on which re.
ports were received 108,915 vehicles
were driven by men and 5,840 were
driven by WOmen-a ratio OF about
20 to /.
In about 70 per cent of 100000 cases
in which reports were received as to
the condition Of the roads dry sur
face was reported, while in only about
IL per cent was there a wet surface.
and 70 per cent occurred In clear
weather, go per cent in daylight, about
% per cent in dusk or darkness and
about 18 per cent in situations where
there was artificial light.
An amazing proportion Of motor
VenlcIe accidents take place IN lOCa-
tions and under conditions where the
likelihood of accident would seem
most remote. This is shown in the
State of Ohio, where white crosses
are erected along highways at the
points where people are killed in such
accidents. These crosses tell grue-
some story to motorists on Ohio high
ways. They are found singly and in
groups OF two, three, or even four or
five. And in a great majority of cases
they are not found at bad curves, or
on stiff grades, or at railroad cross
ings. but in places along the highways
where the going is good and where
accidents would not be expected.
The explanation offered Is that
motorists are reasonably careful
where they know that they have to
be, but that they become careless and
reckless along the open road where a
straightaway and a good pavement