Evening star., 1935-12-22

TOLLOWING Secretary Rop-
- er'S conference in the inter
est of safety, John A. Wets,
- noted bus authority of Net0
York City, connected ,Uith the Ac-
cident Prevention Bureau in Neto
York, has submitted statement
to Representative Emnlet O'Nedl,
chairman OF the Committee on Uni
form Traffic Regulations, entitled
"The DcSirdb bility of Creating Unit
form and Efficient Street and
Highway Traffic Regulations in the
Interest Of the General Public"
Mr.. WeiS, Uho indugurnted the
first Alpine passenger bus serpice
in Europe, uiH confer again tU;th
Representative O'Nedl at q later
date. He is OF the opinion that
if uniformity can be tDorked out
betWeer nations OF UGriouS Ian
gudoes it should be easy to work
them out in the United States,
Wfere every one speaks q common
tongue.
His statement, in Which proph-
esq of more than 1000 years ago
seems to be fulfilled, is as follo1Ds:
A prediction made more than 1000
years ago and to which even at the
beginning Of this present century the
average man, in looking over the Bible
would hardly have attached much
significance, has now proved to be
BY far more than a chimera..
Is it not rather surprising when We
read in the Old Testament. Nahum,
ia:
"The chdriotS shall rage the streets;
They shall justle one against another
in the broad tUay;
They shall seem like torches, they
shall run like lightning"
This statement made so many years
ago, is graphic description of traffic
conditions as they exist today, and
of the serious problem we are facing.
The large utilization of hydrocarbon
products and development Of the in
ternal combustion engine has in a
short span of time revolutionized our
entire transportation system. It
surely has surpassed even the widest
dreams of those among us who some
80 years ago saw some of those 'horse-
less carriages" as automobiles were
called in those days, make successful
run of a mile or so without having
come to an involuntary stop. Today
the number of licensed automobiles
Tit ha
24,o000o0 mark
Although the great beneficial influ-
ence of the motor vehicle upon our
commercial and private means of
transportation is undeniable, the reah.
zation of the old Prophet Nahum's S
prediction has actually placed us in
such a predicament as has been here
tofore unknown, considering that as
the result of careless driving and lack
of efficient and uniform traffic regu-
lations we are confronted with a
slaughter that is taking place day
after day and night after night on
our streets and highways, as so char
acteristically pointed out by DR..
Lazenby, the able chief surgeon Of one
of our largest casualty companies.
THE number of men. women and
children injured in motor acci-
dents over a period of Is months end
ed June 30, 1885, reached the in
credible figure of 1900, 900, while the
number of lives lost during that pc
Rod exceeded that of the A. E. F.
during our participation in the World
War over like period Of 18 months.
The question is how to stop this
steadily ly-growing misuse Of our high
ways and streets by motor-maniacs
whose reckless driving is bringing so
much sorrow into our families. When
we learn that somewhere IN distant
Asia, Africa, or some far-oh islands,
cholera, typhoid fever or any other
sickness runs amuck amongst some
jungle inhabitants, we hasten to send
a whole staff of our best experts and
learned men to these remote spots.
Their aim in fighting such pests is
to locate the cause or origin Of the
sickness and eliminate it by preventive
measures. To create sound and sane
traffic conditions, we must apply like
method. We must act most vigorously
in order to successfully eliminate the
habitual traffic offender, the disastrous
cause of our present unhealthy and
dangerous highway trafic.
It cannot be denied, however, that
in many incidents the various State
laws and regulations pertaining to
motor traffic are not only insufficient,
but very often to such an extent that
the deplorable number of fatalities on
our streets and highways are not alto
gether surprising.
While do not care to go into de-
tails, nevertheless wish to point out
that for instance Ia some States the