Evening star., 1937-04-04


deserves a somewhat detailed study.
That the Women's Safety Committee
of the District Of Columbia Motor
Club OF the A. A. A. will stand in the
relation of sponsor adds, Of course, an
additional note of local color.
The contest as formulated now will
extend over five-year period, the re-
port on the standing Of the respective
precincts in this safety campaign,
being released every six months. At
the end of the first six months the
Women's Safety Committee will pre-
sent trophy to the leading precinct.
At the end Of the year this trophy
will become the temporary possession
of the victorious precinct, the name
Of that precinct being engraved upon
it. At the end of the five years the
trophy will become the permanent
property OF the precinct with the high
est record over the period Of five
years. The chairman Of this special
committee will be Mrs. Sidney Talia-
ferro, for three years = member Of
the committee Of the whole.
Basis Of Work.
All OF which suggests. II tho OBJ
jective Is an improvement in safety
conditions, upon what basis the work
Of the police precincts Is to be COM
puted and what will be their major
activities.
Perhaps this can best be answered
by reference to the New York con-
test and to the bulletin. issued by the
Safety Bureau Of the Police Depart
ment, in which the dynamic COM
manding oflcer Of the bureau, Capt.
William M. Kent, observes.
"Basically, the Police Department. S
method Of operation is to enforce the
law; ordinarily the medium Of arrest
serves as a corrective measure. How
ever, we realized that the factors in
volved in accident prevention work
necessitated more than the ordinary
police methods. 1t was realized that
wholesale arrests, except in fragrant
cases or where absolutely necessary
to serve as q warning to others, would
not correct the accident evils.
We were not interested in how many
citizens we could arrest, but how many
We could save through the prevention
of highway accidents. We felt that
the factors involved, both physical
and human, required scientific analy-
sis to determine when, where, and
how these accidents occur and who
and what was responsible. 1t was
evident that if We hoped to get the
facts and attack this problem with
any degree Of success, 1t would be
necessary to use the entire personnel
and equipment OF the department in
well-directed program, including:
education, enforcement and engineer
ing"
Cause Of Success.
The outstanding success of the pro-
gram indicated by Capt Kent Is
credited by the city's authorities to
the fact the Safety Bureau then
marshaled its entire personnel In a
five year drive for safety on a COM
petitive basis. Precinct was pitted
against precinct in an effort to show
the greatest improvement over the
previous years record on three points,
accident reduction, public education
and law enforcement. Naturally the
ratio of each precincts present record
to its past record would be the only
possible basis Of computation, as each
precinct must include an area differ
ing from all others in the amount Of
traf1c, the extent Of congestion and
the physical outlay Of streets, hazards
and arterial highways. No identical
amount of accident reduction could be
exacted from all. Suitable prizes were
awarded the winning precincts at the
end OF = six months period.
Without entering into too detailed
= rehearsal Of the methods used, it
should be worthy Of consideration
that under the educational work Of the
force, $4,000 direct and radio talks
were given by the members Of the
force. Occasionally safety skit with
professional actors in the cast was
used. The direct talks were made
before civic, business, and industrial
organizations, social groups, churches
and schools. A police officer always
commands attention and succeeds as
a public speaker before q mixed
audience where a professional speaker
might fail.
Among the rs different types of
: osters distributed to the extent Of
$4,000 are such excellent, attention.
gripping ones as small red and yell
low mucilaged labels, after the man.
ner Of Maggie and Jiggs, in which
one pedestrian admonishes another to
save his life, a parent apprehends
. youngster about to take OF into
traf11c, hospital attendant comforts
= weeping parent. A pedestrian heads
into traf1lc, reading = newspaper. One
and attractive poster shows
in red and white numerals the dis
tances cars travel during what Is
known as the braking interval.
4s Parades Held.
Some 48 safety parades were held,
hundreds OF safety films were ex-
hlblted IN regular moving picture the
aters, safety bulletins were placed in
busses, subways and elevated surfaces,
and personal warnings were found to
be very effective where minor traf-
nc violations were involved.
An indication of the ingenuity used
In this educational campaign and the
industry Is exemplifled by the improv-
isation Of some 160 safety slogans,
among which might be quoted, "Alco-
hol belongs In the radiator, not in
the operator" or ALERT today, alive
tomorrow" Accidents do not hap
pen, they are caused" and "A wheel
in hand Is worth two In the head"
Apparently under the engineering
research activities was included traf-
nc volume count, q commercial vehicle
count, speed study, dangerous inter-
sections study, taxicab study, parking
accidant apa1vsis and traf.