Henderson daily dispatch., 1937-05-25
HIGHWAY SAFETY
CLASSES TALKED
May Instruct High School
Seniors in How to Drive
Automobiles
Deity Dispatch Bureau.
In the Sir Walter Hotel
~ n n. ma CK ERV

- Raleigh, May 25-With the hlgn
schools of the State turning out be-
tween "a 900 and $4,000 graduates each
spring and who will soon become the
States newest crop of automobile drlv
ers-although many of these have al
ready started driving cars before they
finish high school-the time has come
to give these high school graduates
some definite instruction in how to
drive automobiles more safely. in the
opinion of Director Arthur Fulk, of
the highway safety division of the De-
partment of Revenue.
Accordingly a conference was held
Monday between State Superintend-
ent of; Public instruction Clyde A. Err
win, Director Fulk and DR.. Herbert
j. Stack, of Columbia University and
director of the safety education di-
vision of the national bureau of cas-
ualty and surety underwriters, regard
ed as one of the outstanding figures
in the safety education field today, in
an effort to work out definite safety
education program for all the high
schools in North Carolina. AS a re-
suit, Superintendent Erwin is going
to try to work out plan calling for
a definite course in highway safety
in every high school in the State, be-
ginning next year.
what we are recommending is that
every boy and girl in the junior or
senior classes in every high school in
the State be given a minimum OF 10
periods of instruction in highway
safety, or one period week for 16
weeks" DR.. Stack said. Experience
in other states shows that this much
instructi n has proved very valuable
in reducing accidents among the new
crops of drivers each year, also that
the boys and girls who have taken
these courses are much more safety
conscious, develop into much better
and much safer drivers than those
who have not had this instruction.
"At present there are q states in
which regular instruction in safe
driving and the proper operation of
automobiles is taught as a regular
part of the high school curriculum,
with 5000 high schools giving this
instruction. But this is hardly drop
in the bucket when we realize that
there are some $4,000 high schools in
the nation from which approximately
100000 boys and girls are graduated
each year and that most of these are
potential new drivers of automobiles.
They have had instruction in Latin,
in algebra and geometry, in history
and science-yet few of them have
had any instruction in the safe and
proper operation of an automobile or
in the traffic laws of their State.
Yet the records show that within two
years 65 per cent of all the boys who
graduate from high school and As per
cent of all the girls become drivers
OF automobiles while many start driv-
ing thei rown or their parents cars
before they leave high school,"
Experience has shown that not
much can be done to educate adult
automobile drivers to drive more
safely, except by strict law enforce
ment, heavy fines and prison sentenc-
es, DR.. Stack said. But actual re-
cords in counties and states where
there has been compulsory and syste-
matte safety education in the public
schools has shown a decided improve
ment in safe driving among the young
er drivers. ~ss.
"Our chief hope, then, is in educat-
ing the younger drivers to be more
careful and in how to drive safely"
DR.. Stack said. "For the: three main
needs of a good automobile driver are
accurate information about how the
car operates, proper attitude and
skill in operation. We have found
that young drivers who have not had
definite instruction in the operation
of an automobile usually do not have
sufficient knowledge or information
about the mechanical operation of
car, do not have the right sort of at
titude and are lacking in skill, due
to insufficient experience We have
also found that of those young driv-
ers9F and older ones, too-who have
accidents, the main factor is usually
a., bad attitude. They do not realize
the need for being careful, for obeying
the law and either don't care or don't
realize that other people and other
drivers have certain rights"
Both DR.. Erwin and Director Fulk
were impressed with the facts given
them by DR.. Stack and agreed to do
everything possible to bring about
more and better instruction in safe
and proper driving in the schools of
the State.