Evening star., 1936-01-12

to reduce the national accident toll.
At the suggestion of the President,
Secretary Roper called a national con-
ference of widely-known individuals
and representatives of groups inter.
ested in safety to consider what steps
should be taken to make accident pre-
vention work more effective.
"It Is devoutly to be wished that
all the efforts which are being put
forth will turn the tide and that 1886
will find America a much safer place
in which to live"
In an appeal for greater safety on
the streets and highways, the Ameri.
can Automobile Association declares
that experience during the last II
months definitely pointed to the need
for organization on national scale to
cope with conditions.
I'VE have now reached the point" "
says Thomas P. Henry, president Of
the national motoring body, where
we may as well concede that sporadic
and unrelated campaigns here and
there produce no real, lasting effects
as far as the solution of our problems
is concerned" He continued:
This problem is so complex, has so
many aspects and factors in it, that
serious consideration should be given
to the feasibility of a plan of organi.
zation that would coordinate and di-
rect efforts along constructive lines.
Only by doing so can we avoid the
application of drastic remedies which
may often be the growth of hysteria
rather than of sound thinking and
ascertained facts"
Mr. Henry suggests that all groups
interested in safety make serious ex-
animation of the plan recently ad-
vanced by Thomas H. Mcdonald, chief
of the United States Bureau of Public
Roads.
This plan," says Mr.. Henry, "con-
templates the setting up of an official
committee of Federal officials inter-
ested in safety in various fields and
which would be in a position to help
in the more thorough investigation
and reporting of fatalities and their
causes, as well as in the development
of standards and regulations. This
official committee would have an ad-
visory committee on safety composed
of representatives of organizations and
individuals now engaged in safety
work. The same set-up would be
duplicated in the States and If neces-
sary in the cities. I am citing this
not as an A. A. A. proposal, but
merely because it offers an idea as to
how the matter of organization on a
national scale can be approached.
"As things are today, no two States,
no two cities, are proceeding along
the same lines and this despite the
fact that we have a considerable
amount of uniform laws and regu-
lations. Administration and technique
are tagging behind. We find it in the
wide differences that exist in enforce
ment procedure and the application
of penalties, money fines, revocations
or suspensions, or Jail sentences. We
find the police in many instances
throwing up their hands because they
claim that they are not upheld by
the courts. We find many schools of
thought to the causes of accidents
and we find an appalling lack Of
scientific and dependable information.
In the circumstances, 1t is not surpris-
ing to find one group concentrating
on the driver, while another group is
concentrating on the car, to curb its
speed and what not.
1T is because of all this that be-
lieve the time is here for co-ordi-
mated effort on Nationwide scale. !
doubt whether we can get such an
effort without some kind of organiza-
ton, national and State. The more we
examine this problem the more clear
it becomes that we cannot take this
or that one thing and say that this
or that Is the remedy or that this or
that is the vital point for our attack" !"