The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1931-07-06

Freight street, the gateway to the
Chase Parkway and points west,
will be designated as Safety Lane"
commencing tomorrow and con-
tinuing for four days. The construc-
tive campaign for'the prevention of
motor vehicle accidents will supply
Waterburians with an opportunity
for complete mechanical check-up
on their machines without a cent
of expense. All autoists are in
vited to have their machines tested.
O. X. certificates will be presented
to the owner or operator of each
machine inspected.
The local Chamber of Commerce
and the police department are CO.
operating with the sponsors of the
campaign, the Automobile Club of
the New Haven county. to make it
a successful one.
Safety Lane, as 1t is termed, in
cludles a test of brakes, headlights,
horn, mirror and windshield wiper,
wheel alignment and steering wheel
play, making use Of the latest
equipment scientifically designed for
this purpose. This inspection will
be free to the public and every mo-
tor car owner is invited to have his
car checked. The inspection will
be conducted on Freight street, con-
venient location for practically every
one in the city. The inspection it.
self will require only few minutes
time.
This safety program is being
sponsored by the Automobile Club
of New Haven county and is en-
dressed by the police department,
with the expectation that 1t will
prove definite factor in the re-
duction of local motor vehicle acct
dents by pointing out to motorists
the need of having the various safe
ty devices on hteir cars properly ad-
justed from time to time and thus
developing an increased safety con-
sciousness."
Owners of cars successfully pass
ing all tests will be issued an o. *.
certificate to be pasted on the wind
shield; those whose cars fail to be
given duplicate of the official
test card showing the various adj
justments which are necessary TO
safety. BY having these adjust
ments made and properly certified
to one the back of this card, the
motorist, on presentation of this card
will receive an o. X. certificate.
The serious need of constructive
measures to aid in accident preven-
ton Is emphasized by figures made
public by the committee on traffic
accidents statistics Of the National
Conference on Street and Highway
Safety meeting in Washington, d.
c., on May "a, 1880.
According to the report of the
conference committee, street and
highway accidents in the United
States took a toll of $4,000 lives
in 1929 and another 100000 were
injured in traffic accidents. Motor
vehicles were responsible for $1,000
of the deaths and 100000 Of the
injuries. There was an average of
one traffic death every 16 minutes
during the year, the committee
stated. Traffic fatalities increased
80 per cent over 1928, while deaths
attributed directly to motor vehicles
showed 1913 per cent increase over
1928.
In 1927. for the first time since
statistics have been compiled, the
relative increase in motor vehicle
fatalities over the next preceding
year exceeded the relative increase
In the number of automobiles rgis-
tered. The same was true both of
1928 and 1929. For three years past,
therefore, the number OF fatalities
has been mounting at faster rate
than the number of cars, the report
disclosed.
Discussing the economic phase of
the increasing accident rate the
committee stated that the economic
costs of motor vehicle traffic ac-
cidents is estimated at $50 million
dollars for 1929, compared with
half million dollars for 1923. and
will soon reach the staggering total
of one billion dollars annually I'M
less effectively checked.
From authoritative sources 1t ap-
pears that defective car equipment
causes or Is a contributing factor in
is to 40 per cent OF fatal motor
car accidents and local officials
sponsoring Safety Lane are conf
dent that this inspection will ac-
complish such excelletn results as
to justify a similar campaign being
held periodically In the future.
That such periodic tests are in
strumental in educating motorists to
pay increasing attention to the safety
equipment of their cars is proved by
the experience OF the Auto Club of
Springfield, III, which has conducted
inspections for a number of years
past. In 1929, less than so per cent
sof the cars checked passed the test