The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1935-01-12
GLOVE COVERETH"
rn1DA
This SLAUGHTER MUST STOP"

The Ashevile Citizen quotes the above
CAPTION as the slogan of the Carolina Nc
tor club in its campaign for safety on the
highways of North Carolina. The Citizen
says:
''The above sentence forms the slogan of the
Carolina Motor club in its campaign to curb vlo-
lent deaths on the highways of North Carolina.
1t is an effective watchword in seeking solution
to problem that is steadily becoming graYer
When fatalities mount as they have in recent
months. there is obviously something radically
wrong somewhere.
"The safety committee of the motor club sug-
gests course of instruction in the secondary
school curricula, endorses school boy safety pa
trolls, advocates training school for school bus
drivers and favors space on the shoulders of main
highways in school areas for pedestrians.
ct thinks special training for traffic officers
will be valuable, advocates larger state highway
patrol, wants a safety educational division Of the
Motor Vehicle Bureau, asks for enactment of a
standard statewide drivers license law, seeks uni
formity of traffic laws, highway markings and en-
5foreement, favors enactment of a standard fnan-
cal responsibility law, and proposes traffic sur
veys with CWA funds.
ga pamphlet issued by the motor club brings
out the fact that in the past year there were 44S
homicides in the state and 271 suicides. Autocides
took $50 lives. In 10 months, $40 North Caro-
lima citizens were killed and died in the World war;
In the same period, 1,404 lost their lives in auto
accidents. Deaths in rural areas from car acct
dents are increasing. States with standard license
laws are shown by charts to have reduced their
mortality rates. Auto sales show an increase in
licensed states because people are not afraid to
drive cars where to large extent the careless
and incompetent drivers are eliminated
"The highway death rate has become such a
problem in the state that Governor Ehringhaus
brought it to the attention of the legislature
Thursday night. The mounting toll of accidents
appalls US and chills our enthusiasm for the en-
terpriSe of increased transportation facilities, re
said
"The governor expressed the belief slaughter
the highways cannot be stopped by ordinary
methods He advocated drivers license law with
teeth in it. He said this should be accomplished
by constant, unrelenting and real enterprise to-
ward enforcing such law"
No problem that faces the present ses-
sion of the legislature is of more far-reach-
ing and grave Importance than that of
seeing if something can be done to reduce
accidents and deaths on the roads of the
State. Other States have found by expe-
rience that rigid traffic laws and drivers
license regulations, while they do not work
perfectly and eliminate all accidents and
deaths on the highways, do greatly i'm
prove conditions. North Carolina must do
something along that line to reduce the
grave dangers of the roads in the present
day traffic jam.
Many citizens are loath to see any more
laws enacted in North Carolina. They
would like to see about half of those now
on the books, repealed, as it is certain that
number of existing laws are useless and
worthless and are not enforced. But some
thing must be done about traffic conditions
on the highways of North Carolina, and
the only course that promises any relief is
more rigid traffic regulations and rigid
ly enforced drivers license law.