The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-08-29

acquaintances are passing judg- ments on their character not in- frequently by the manner in which they drive their cars. Psychologists tell us that the inferior persons feelS a sense of expansion of the ego arising from the control of a powerful machine. that certain ill., hammered persons become bump tious and self-important only when at the wheel, that otherwise or dinary citizens are inflated only by the thrill, so-called, of speed. Speed, may I repeat, possibly is not the cause of accidents, but in my opinion it is the element in an ac- cident which causes 1t to result in a fatality rather than in injury to the participants.
 New bad manners,-arrogance-- are a definite menace on the high way. Trivial acts O.. good manners and self-restraint have on the other hand a tremendous value from an accident standpoint. Each of us is immediately responsive to the man who aims his glaring headlights as we approach. 1nstinc- lively we appreciate the fellow who waves us ahead when he him. self for one reason or another must proceed slowly. Surely you have come upon a narrow bridge and met with 8 car coming on in the opposite direction. Your first impulse, if you are normally de- cent chap, is to signal the other fellow through. In return for such courteous gestures you have won the other fellows gratitude and both of you proceed on your sev- eral ways somewhat buoyed up by the thought that life. even in such a-touch- -and-go society as our mechanical world has become. can be pleasant. that there is in it place for the little amenities which make the business of living bear able.
 It has been my own observation that people who make a business of driving, whose daily business it is seldom are involved in mishaps. I have in mind more particularly chauffeurs and operators employed by fleet owners. Many of these drivers are my personal friends. have been brought up with them and have known them for many years. Is courtesy a part of their driving technic? You can be sure 1t is. In the first place their em- ployers will not tolerate insolence to other motorists. They develop a respect for the other fellow and his right on the highway. Busy men with responsibilities. these employers can not afford to be mixed up in accidents. Moreover they resent any aspersions being thrust at them on account of the unseemly conduct of their drivers. They know too that if such should happen it would reflect not only on their standing in the community but on their businesses as we'll.
 In closing should like to say a word for the much maligned "slow driver.'' He has right on the road. He has a right to drive leis- urely if he so desires. My quarrel is not with him. However I do ob- ject to the second and third and fourth drivers who fall in line closely in the rear of him and pro- ceed in this formation for miles. Naturally it is impossible for any one, who might be in a hurry, to pass such a long line of close and slow-moving traffic with safety. If they do want to drive leisurely they owe it to others on the road to stretch out, to keep sufficiently wide apart to permit other cars to. pass them easily. Three or four drivers have no right to gang" the highways and in so doing they are creating a very definite kind of hazard if for no other season than that they aggravate and annoy those who may desire to proceed at a reasonably greater speed. They are a deliberate temptation to recklessness.
 And now, my friends. ask once more that you aid us in this task. I know that deep in us all lies a feeling of immortality, the person. al and individual inconceivability of death. No matter how often we read of fatal accidents. even in in- stances where close and intimate friends of ours are involved, the possibility of their happening to us is unthinkable. It Is always the other fellow who is going to get into a jam. Not us. Yet within the department of motor vehicles those who keep the record can al- most predict with -tinality that be- fore New Years eve rolls around two hundred and fifty more per- sons in Connecticut will have been killed. In the past seven months 239 have met death on the high ways and as I have already stated the three worst months for fatal ities, September. October and Mo- vember are still before us. Without your cooperation our efforts are feeble indeed. Please help us in the task.