Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-11-16
Y WASHINGTON, for q long
w time proud possessor Of
v v the lead In the low-fa-

~ Il eA@@@~@N eNNAeI
A time proud possesSor o.
" v the lead in the low-fa.
tally list among thu
large cities Of the country, has
now dropped to second place, &C.
cording to figures just released by
the Bureau of Census through the
Department of Commerce. Balti-
more has now the honor.
The figures are based on the
death rate from automobile acct
dents per 100000 occurring with
In city limits during the 52-week
period ending November /, 1890.
ID. C. Rate 1873.
The National Capital is listed
at 1873, while the Monumental
City of Maryland is listed at 1877.
TRAFFIC Officials here were quick
to congratulate the neighboring
city, and are of the opinion that
its Jump into first place has been
aided by the Save-a-Life Cam
paign, recently undertaken by
Maryland, which requires the in
spection of all automobiles. Such
an inspection as to mechanical
fitness Of all cars has been urged
In the District of Columbia for
some time.
The Government figures give
Boston third place, with 14.1.
other cities of size show the rates
as follows;
San Francisco, TIT; New York,
1R0. New Orleans. 1876: Philadel-
phia, 1873; Detroit, 21.3; Chicago,
23.4; Pittsburgh, 1913; Cleveland,
270: Newark, 27.3; Cincinnati,
27.4; Los Angeles, 274; Columbus,
Ohio, 32.5, and San Diego, 37.6.
It would appear that the States
of Ohio and California greatly
need signs of improvement. De-
spite the fact that the District OF
Columbia has had first place
wrested away from her, an i'm
prcvement is noted over the ST.
week period ending November 2,
1929, is shown, when at that time
her rate was 1876.
National Statistics.
For the Nation in general, a
rather encouraging report is CIV
en-. For the first time in many
weeks q lower rate is shown. For
the four weeks ended November
/, 1890, 70 large cities Of the
United States reported $50 deaths
from automobile accidents. This
number compares with 842 deaths
during the four weeks ended No
yember 2, 1929. Most Of these
deaths were the result OF acci-
dents which occurred within the
corporate limits Of the city, al
though some accidents occurred
outside of the city limits.
For comparison, the number OF
deaths due to automobile acci-
dents within city limits Is desir-
able. Such figures are available
for the four-week period ended
November /, 1880, and for the cor
responding four-week period Of
1929 for all the IS cities, the four
week figure in 1890 being sol, as
contrasted with $40 for the corre-
spending four weeks in 1929.
Considering by four-week pc
RODS since May, 1925, total deaths
from automobile accidents for "a
cities, regardless Of places Of acct
dent, the lowest total, 346, ap-
pears for the four-week period
ending March 81, 1926, and the
highest, 842, for the four-week
period ending November 2, 1929.
For the 52-week periods ending
November !, 1880, and November
2, 1929, the totals for the Is
cities were, respectively, 8,427 and
8,571, which Indicates a recent
rate Of 24.8 per 100000 population
as against an earlier rate of 24.0
or decrease In the rate during
the year. Two cities reported no
deaths from automobile accidents
for the last four weeks while one
city reported no deaths for the
corresponding period of 1929. For
the last four-week period reports
as to whether deaths occurred
from automobile accidents within
city limits or outside were re-
ceived from all of the Is cities re-
porting. In these cities In this
four-week period, the total num-
Der Of deaths from automobile &C
cidents were $50 but only sol of
these were due to accidents with
in city limits.
The rates published in this
summary are based upon midyear
population estimates derived from
the 1890 census. Cities whose
population was found to be less
than was indicated by estimates
heretofore used win therefore ap-
pear as having a higher death
rate than usual, even though
there may have been no material
increase in the actual number Of
deaths. Washington, undoubtedly
falls into this category, it having
been believed to have had high
er population than the actual
1880 census showed. It's giving
way to Baltimore for lowest fatal
ity figures may have been caused
by this fact more than the safety
campaign now being carried on
by Maryland.
New Sidelight.
A new sidelight into the traffic
Fatality lists is the claim that the
so-called fatal hazard in motoring
Is actually less for the individual
per 100000 cars registered than II