The Washington times., 1929-02-27

PA SAhNOAC hAoA ~ S~SJ w.
that persists in so many local.
This crusade is based upon tbs
research and findings Of the Ma
tional Conference on Street and
Highway Safety, organized In 1924
by Herbert Hoover. then Secretar
of Commerce, which las functioned
ever since for the sole purpose OF
assisting and cooperating in the
solution of a problem of outstanding
national Importance by providing
data covering the most scientific
methods of CO rol.
Already a number OF States have
utilized the uniform vehicle code a.
the basis of revising their statutes
to conform with the accepted vision
of the foremost authorities, whose
assistance the conference las re
ceiVed, while numerous cities and
towns have incorporated at leass
the major suggestions of its model
municipal traffic ordinance. The
purpose of the present campaign IL
to extend the hand of cooperation
to all States and communities which
can benefit from the labor OF the
national conference,
The Traffic Tangle
With the manufacture and Use OF
motor vehicles still increasing at an
amazing rate, it is recognized every
where that regulation Of traffic has
failed to keep i ace. For some time
it has been patent that this Jas
due to existing laws which in many
ftra hnnt~G
without, perhaps, full opportunity
for the mature study the subject is
now seen to warrant or in the phe'
nomenal development of motoring
having become antiquated.
AS the horizon of the automobile
moved beyond local bounds, it be-
came apparent that the propitious
time for formulation of a uniform
code was at hand. Where motor
traffic had been largely intra-State,
boundary lines were rapidly dis
appearing and wholly unnecessary
confusion was being caused by the
unfamiliarity of drivers with what
was expected of them when they
went beyond their home localities
Staggering statistics of the economic
losses chargea BILE to unscientific and
inadequate regulation of traffic
startled the country, a conservative
estimate placing the figure at $1,000
600, 900 a year,
Twenty thousand persons were be-
ing killed each year and half mil
lion injured. The realization that
something must be done grew and
out of this emerged the first national
effort to find solution.
At the call of Mr.. Hoover the Ma
tional Conference was organized with
the aid of those orga nizations whose
experience and knowledge of traffic
problems could contribute most to
workable solution.
Complete Study Made
Committees were appointed tc
delve into every vital phase of the
traffic problem, including statistics
traffic control, construction anC
engineering, city planning and Zon
ing, insurance, the motor vehicle
education and public relations. Their
findings were reviewed by the first
conference.
During the two years intervening
before the second conference was
held committees continued hard al
work on additional questions oi
enforcement causes of accidents and
metropolitan traffic facilities, while
a special committee on uniformity
of laws and regulations, in co
operation with the national con
ference of commissioners on uni
form State laws and the American
Bar Association, evolved the frame
work of a uniform vehicle code.
This contribution, embodying
numerous features of existing State
laws, underwent the closest scru
tiny of every authority and interest
which could contribute to it's per
fection and in its final form was
considered in detail by the second
conference, in which nearly thou
sand delegates, including Officia
representatives appointed by the
governors of 43 States, participated
Divided into four individual acts
the trainers draft was approved
and recommended to the legislatures
of the States.
1t has never been contended that
the code should be adopted by every
State without the crossing of a "T'
Or the dotting of an IT. but it Is
laid down as a constructively helpful
guide for traffic law improvement
embodying as it does the thought Of
the most profound students of the
problem and the experience of the
whole country.
MANY HAVE ADOPTED 1T
Among States which have already
adopted the advanced rules of the
road based on the Uniform Code, OF
have revised their laws to secure
closer conformity Herewith, are
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia
North Carolina, North Dakota, idaho
Michigan. Minnesota, Arkansas, Lou
isiana, Arizona, Washington, New
Hampshire, California, and Oregon,
Pennsylvania repealed its various
laws and adopted practically the
complete code, while North Carolina
North Dakota and Idaho adopted all
save the licensing act. The action OF
New Hampshire and Oregon was in
the nature of the revision of existing