Nogales international., 1931-10-17
Accidents DO Not Happen;
They Are Caused, Says Industrial Leader
Great Plant Has 1873 Acci-
dents, But Workers Haze
5O4 Casualties Outside

hand, the city OF Washington shows
decrease of $3.50 in its motor vehl-
Gle accidents.
Twenty years ago society
charged industry with the response
bilty for it's accidents. Today in
dustry says, we have done our
part-it is now up to you to do
yours.
= "And what is society? 1t is the
community, to be sure, but it is
much more than that. Society is you!
You can not expect your neighbor
to shoulder the load. If you drive
car, it is you who must be
careful driver. And if you have
children who are permitted to take
the family car and use the streets
of your city, it is you who must
make certain that those children
appreciate fully the responsibility
that is so often theirs when in the
exhilaration that comes from driv-
ing high powered car they disre-
gard speed regulations, stop streets,
stop lights and other warning signs
that have been put there for the
protection of their very selves.
There is a general belief that
the motor truck driver is hard
boiled, reckless chap, whose consid-
Grafton for his fellows on the streets
or at crossings is about zero. You.
may be surprised to know that he
isn't really as reckless as the private|
ear driver. What is the reason? Dis-I
cipline!
Truck Drivers Careful
"Who of you can boast of driving
100000 miles without having
touched a fixed or moving object?
And yet twenty-five drivers of the
Western Electric feet travelled
total of 185,SOO miles with only a
broken window to mar their record.
Again I emphasize the value OF
discipline. We cannot over-estimate
| its value whether it be self-discipline.
which is the goal of all safety educa-
ton, or discipline from those who
have the authority to exact it.
"Now when we talk about disci-
pline and control we come rather
abruptly to the crux of the entire
safety problem. ! shall not bore
you with statistics, but l want you
all to know what happened in 1920
the unnecessary sacrificing of 3d.
500 lives which occurred in motor
vehicle accidents; $4,000 fatalities
in industry and about an equal num-
Der in the homes of the land. And
the cost of these fatalities plus near
| 1y 100000 injuries amounted to
more than $3,OoO.oo0,O Some au-
thorities estimate the figure at
S5, 5,O0O,OOO,OOO. That's our price tag
on accidents. That's what the
United States is sacrificing each
year to the god of carelessness.
~ Must Control Drivers
I "Did you ever stop to think that
there are 100000 drivers in the
United States for 26,000.OO0 auto
mobiles? If we exclude the minors
from consideration, then this means
that one out of every three of our
citizens drives an automobile. 1t
also means that 100000 of these
100000 drivers are permitted to
drive their cars without having
proven in any way their ability to
do so in a safe and competent man
ner. What matter if they be morons,
idiots, or drug addicts? What mat
ter if they are accident repeaters,
reckless or otherwise incompetent
drivers? In 81 of our states there is
at present no control, no discipline
whatever.
II like to think of you as home
people rather than as commercial,
professional or industrial folks. And
as the representatives of your many
homes want to plead with you to
assume your rightful share of re-
sponsibility in this fight against
acci1autS