Evening star., 1934-03-04

AoV ySoA Woo 6.O PSA NSAAV SACuVCA
dent basis the deaths increased
persons injured non-fatally %
cts relating to the street and
st year are brought out in the
t American Gamble" just pub
npany.
IS last year accounted for nearly
), but these resulted in slightly
atalitieS. Automobile pedestrian
of all accidents, but these re-
;ent of the deaths. In addition
10 due to automobile pedestrian
INJURED nOn-fatally in such acci-
rural territories the rate of death
jumped SO per cent. and these sta
tistics are pointed to as indications
of the effect which increasing rates
Of speed have had upon producing
more serious accidents.
On Saturdays and Sundays last
year, 11,480 persons were killed in
automobile accidents as against 8,420
for the remaining five days of the
week. The greater seriousness of
week end accidents is shown by the
fact that the late of death per acci-
dent on Saturdays and Sundays was
20 per cent greater than on the other
days of the week combined.
Accidents which happen during
darkness continued last year to be far
worse than daytime accidents. Dur
ing the normal daylight hours of 6
am. to pm, there were 4l3,890
automobile accidents last year which
resulted in 1850 deaths. During the
normal hours of darkness from pm.
to am, there were 342, $40 accidents
which resulted in 1920 deaths. The
important fact brought out is that the
rate of death per accident was 43.5
per cent worse during the hours OF
darkness than during the hours of
daylight.
Rates Worst in Dark.
For every hour Of darkness last year
the rates Of death per accident were
worse than the average for all acci-
dents combined, and in only the two
hours of daylight from am. to 8
am. were the rates of death per
accident worse than the average. A
further indication of the greater
severity of nighttime accidents Is
brought out in comparison Of deaths
during the four rush hours of the
morning and the four rush hours OF
the evening From 6 to 10 am.
deaths numbered 1850 last year, while
from to 9 pm. deaths numbered
9,720. The deaths in the four evening
hours exceeded the record OF the four
morning hours by 281 per cent.
From / to am. throughout the
year automobile accidents numbered
$3.50 and deaths 3,100. Despite the
fact that from l to am. traffic is
at its lowest ebb, the rate OF death
per accident in this five-hour period
was AZ per cent worse than the
average for all accidents.
Automobile accidents during hours
of darkness are much worse in their
consequences than those of daylight
because cars at night are being driven
too fast for the existing range of
visibility afforded by headlamps.
When dependent solely on car illum-
nation the safe operation Of automo-
biles at night demands that speed
never exceed the stopping distance of
approximately 100 feet provided by
effective range of car lamps. This
distance corresponds to 35 miles per
hour.
The experience of young drivers, &C
cording to the record OF last year,
continues bad. The ratio Of young
drivers in fatal accidents to the total
of such drivers in all mishaps last
year was 81 per cent worse than the
average for all drivers. Statistics on
the number of persons killed by age
groups in automobile accidents for the
10-year period ending in 1881 show
that in the ages of Is to 19 the rate
of death has increased 165 per cent
and in the ages of 20 to "a the in
crease has amounted to 185 per cent.
The average increase for all ages COM
bined has been 96 per cent. Only in
the ages of to has there been
an improvement, the decrease in the
rate of death amounting to 10 per
cent.
The complete summary of the ex-
tent of automobile accidents and their
causes for last year, as published by
the insurance company, emphasizes
the dangerous factor Of too much
speed. In the last 10 years it Is
pointed out that there has been an
increase from IS to around SIS miles
per hour in rated driving speed. In
three well known cars of different
prices there have been increases in
the last 10 years in horsepower from
20 to more than 80 in the low-price
class, 10 to 116 horsepower in the
medium-pric class and "a to 160
horsepower in the high-price class.
It is pointed out that automobiles
travelling at 20, 40 and 60 miles per
hour have the same capacity for in
flicting damage that the same cars
would have if driven off a /, 4 and
10 or IL story building. At 20 miles
per hour, because of the distance re-
quired to stop at that speed, q car
occupies 38 feet Of roadway in addi-
ton to its own length. At 40 miles
per hour this length is increased to
1875 feet of roadway and at so miles
per hour, because of the stopping
distance necessary, car occupies 263
feet of roadway in addition to its
own length.
Speed Not Always to Blame.
Regardless of the above report, i'm
mensely interesting and useful as it
is, it does not appear convincing that
speed in itself is the sole cause Of
yearly mounting fatalities. Speed at
the wrong time, at the wrong place,
with an inexperienced driver IS to
blame in most instances. Then there