Evening star., 1936-02-16

say, the lighting of only $4,000 miles
of rural highway, small percentage
of the total of improved road mileage
of the country.
1t was further estimated that on
these $4,000 miles of our main high
ways the hazard per vehicle mile by
night is more than six times that by .
day. /
Engineers have illuminated one /
mile stretch of highway in Nela Park, I
Cleveland, and the results are nothing .
short of amazing.
The gain in safety achieved under
the new system may be appreciated ,
from the fact that the increased vision
it provides could be equaled under past |
systems only with several times as
much light.
Three Winter months in New York /
State show one-third reduction in
traffic accidents by day, but doubling /
of night fatalities when compared with |
three Summer months" according to
engineers.
This is evidence that weather. |
traffic and speed are not alone the
cause of the mounting toll of acci-
dents. Fatigue, drinking and care
lessness all doubtless play a part in
the greater hazard at night, but dark
ness is the major difference in the
night condition"
Three outstanding features account
for the great gain in seeing and safety
on the Nela Park stretch.
First the proportion of light reach
ing the pavement and shoulders is
more than doubled as compared with
former equipments.
Second, glare is suppressed by COM
pletely shielding the light sources to
approximately 10 degrees below the
horizontal largely obviating the inter-
ference with seeing. which in former
systems has wasted as much as one
half of the illumination.
Third, the road surface presents an
altogether higher order of uniformity
of brightness, free from areas of low
visibility.
Highway lighting seems to be one
of the definite answers to the traffic
safety problem, and if figures don't
liz lllS SOOIltl We uO ADOuI
it the sooner our death rate will start
on the decline.
Enforcement by police departments
and courts of traffic laws and regula-
tions, when properly carried out, is
called an effective weapon in COM
batting the automobile accident prob
lem in report of study of enforce
ment practices made by Northwestern
University Traffic officers Training
School, Evanston. Ill. in conjunction
with the Travellers Insurance Co.
This conclusion is based on an
analysis of the records of enforce
ment and death rates as reported |
month by month by 38 cities in widely |
scattered parts of the United States. |
Actually 106 cities provided informa-
ton, but in SO of them data offered !
were not sufficiently complete to per-
NIT any distinction between convic- |
tions having to do with operation |
of cars and those connected with |
parking and incorporating arrests.
Enforcement as potent force to |
prevent accidents would be the most |
effective in cities now having a poor
showing in that respect, the report !
points out, although it is strongly |
recommended to all cities as the /
method which can produce much |
more rapidly than other means an |
improvement in automobile accident |
death rates.
An enforcement index of 10 court |
convictions to every personal injury |
accident in a city is offered in the |
report as the goal toward which cities |
should strive in working for a re- |
duction in automobile accident ex-
perience. The index is explained as |
the ratio of the number of convic- |
tions for traffic law violations in
volving cars in motion to the number
Of personal injury accidents"
That wide variance exists in en-
forcement practices is brought out !
by the study which shows that De-
troit heads the list with an increase |
in index from 9.5 in 1884 to 17.2 last |
year, in contrast to an index of less !
than one conviction of operators of |
cars in motion per personal injury
accidents reported by a number of |
ClO1Co III 1dSGy OQ1 vi IllC 90 CLUES |
providing information, only three last |
year were able to exceed an enforce |
nent index of 10.
Cities showing the best enforce |
ment of traffic laws and regulations
are placed by the report in a group
having at least four convictions of
operators of cars in motion per per-
sonal injury accident. Only 18 of the
80 cities included in the detailed
study were able to exceed this figure
Cities in medium group having an
enforcement index from 40 to 1.25
numbered 10, while in the lowest
classification, where the enforcement
index was under 1.25, there were 10
cities.
Following Detroit in the rank of
high enforcement indices were Phoe-
nix, AriZ.; Evanston, Ill; Berkeley,
Calf; Wichita, Kans., and Syracuse,
N. Y. Fourteenth In standing was
New York City, which was in the high
bracket of cities, and Chicago stood
nineteenth in the medium group of
cities.
The highest bracket of cities, ac-
cording to the report, had an increase
last year of Al per cent in enforce
ment index, although only decrease
of 10 per cent in combined automo-
bile accident death rate. The me-
dium group had an increase Of 80 per
cent in enforcement and a decrease
Of "a per cent in combined death
rate. The low group, where the aver
age enforcement index was less than
one conviction Of operators of cars in
motion per personal injury accident,
showed an increase Of only 81 in en-
forcement, but a decrease of "a per
cent in death rate.
In this connection the opinion is
expressed that possibly the high en-
forcement croup NAV be approaching