Evening star., 1931-06-07
FURTHER AID FOR. MOTORISTS
SOUGHT AT A. A. A. MEETING
Good Roads, Fair Taxes and Uniform
Regulations for Safety Advanced
at Convention.

WEST BADEN, Ind, June 6.-Ap-
proximately 81, soc, 900 900 Is being spent
for building in the 48 States dur
ing the current year on q program,
which calls for the improvement OF
around $4,000 miles of new highways,
according to a report submitted to the
twenty-ninth annual convention OF the
American Automobile Association here.
Based on Survey.
The report, based on q survey made
by the A. A. A. National Good Roads
enlarged their 1891 road programs, as
compared with 1890. from beth the
standpoint Of expenditures and mileage
to be improved.
Another significant development" It
cited, lis the speeding up of conStruc-
tion in . number Of Southern States,
notably Louisiana, which has q $65, ,000.-
600 program: Georgia, South Carolina
and Texas. The Western States are also
joining the movement and. under the
stimulus Of Federal assistance In build
ing roads across the public domain. are
pressing for early improvement Of the
main arteries of travel.
Aside from relieving unemployment
and furnishing an outlet for materials
the 1881 highway program in all States
has q most encouraging aspect from
the standpoint of the years Immediately
ahead. In preparation to meet these fu-
ture needs the States are spending ap-
proximately $4,000, 900 for new equip
ment and bodybuilding machinery"
Federal Aid Increase.
The increase in Federal-aid appro-
Tria ff0Va Pror,a N7S mn mn 70 iO6 mn =
600 annually and the emergency ap-
preparation of $50 900 900 made avail
able for 1881 In the form Of leans to the
States, has been q vital FACTOR in stimu-
lating the States to take advantage OF
the business lull to meet the demand
for more highways, declared the A. A.
A. Committee. Its report continued:
The Federal-aid system, which now
comprises 193.049 miles of important
interstate highways, is now nearly half
completed. There were 30. 1868 miles i'm
proved, as Of March 81, 1881, while TO-
388 miles were under construction and
5,679 miles had been approved for con-
struction.
I'm addition to this national program,
congressional appropriations and au-
thority for Federal assistance in build
ing roads across the public domain and
approach roads to the national forests
has had q desirable effect on road
building in the West"
While the annual convention Of
the American Automobile Association
viewed with concern the mounting toll
of highway accidents and fatalities,
reports submitted to the convention re-
vealed progress along specific lines.
The report of the A. A. A. Safety
Responsibility Committee, submitted by
ArY~ Nf n,NE EAl@
brought out the fact that 18 States,
with a registration Of IL ,OO0, 900 motor
vehicles. have now adopted the safety
responsibility law in whole or in part.
Six Of these States enacted this funda-
mental legislation in the last sessions
Of the Legislatures, it was pointed out.
Safety Responsibility.
Mr.. Augspurger asserted that all Of
the officials concerned with the admin
istration of the law were convinced
that 1t affords q forceful weapon for
the control of the criminal and ire
sponsible driver.
."On the otner hand" he said, "its
penalties do not affect the great mass
Of law-abiding motorists, the expert
ence OF six States in 1929 showing that
only Seven-tenthS of per cent Of the
drivers came under the provisions Of
the law"
William e. Metzger of Detroit. Mich,
chairman of the Executive Committee
of the National Conference on Street
and Highway Safety and chairman OF
the A. A. A. Trafflc and Safety Com
mittee, without attempting to discount
the seriousness Of the death toll on the
streets and highways, cited bright spots
in the effort to overcome this national
waste of life and DrODerty.
Definite progress" he declared, "was
registered in the effort to bring uni
formity into the basic motor vehicle
laws Of the various States, and q total
Of 80 have to date enacted important
provisions of the Uniform Motor We
hicle Code. This is particularly true OF
the drivers license feature, and Is
States and the District of Columbis
now require mandatory examination
as q prerequisite to securing license
THE decline in the number Of grade
crossing accidents and the spread OF
safety education may be viewed as note
worthy achievements. In 1880 there
were 1883 accidents involving motor
vehicles at grade crossings, as c-mpared
to 5,975 in 1929, decrease OF % per
cent But the most favorable trend was
in the reduction of fatalities and acci-
dents to children. This was largely due
to the work Of 100000 boys now enrolled
in safety patrols and the safety lessons
and posters now reaching more than
1000, 900 school children.
Other developments, including the
trend toward liberalizing OF speed laws,
relief of motorists from unwarranted
liability to guests and other legislative
enactments designed to facilitate use OF
the car with safety, were cited in the