Evening star., 1937-01-04
BY BLAIR MOOD Y.

wpeclal DlspatCl " AhS SS'-'
DETROIT, January 4 CN.A.NA.).-
Thousands of children wi be Kiliea
a. the Nations streets in this bright
new year of 1897; thouSan ds more OF
mothers and fathers :,
Multitudes will be 1r)ufeo anu
MANNED
The whole course OF lives. 1amllies'
homes Will be wrenched ana DARK
ened; it will be trageo y, major
-" and 49, al, the greater trae edy because
most Of it could be preverl teo!
II the United States we re suooehIy
plunged into war, shock ana horror
would sweep the country, because war
would mean sending tn ousanos oi
young men to their DEF ths-waste-
fully.
Yet an army Of young men-ano
Aid n,en women and clhildren-wiN
90 to their deaths this ye ar IN trainc
because proved methods OF reducing
accidents have not been hoopteo ma
tionally-are still hiding their llghtS
under local bushels.
In the next Is monthd unless the
present trend is sharply cfecKeo, more
,s.on,. vi,, he killed In traffic than
died f,qhting for Uncle Sam in the
World War. The War Departmeht
reports the number killf IN action
and dead Of wounds IN the war AZ
sn s1o The toll of TRAMP fatalities is
at the approximate level OF o1'ooo
o year.
3a3.OI6 Dead in 10 Years.
In the last 10 years there have peeh
k;,,ed IN traffic 323O16 persons, more
than the 244,357 who he'd Tor tneir
country In all OF our " ars Iroih VIC
Revolutionary War on.
Almost exactly 100 cttizens perEh
IN traffic each dsy-a little more than
four an hour-one every Is mlnuteS.
In one wild Christmas eve carnage
10 people were killed in , single nighs
on the streets of Detroit alone.
Property loss from accidents IN the
last vear Is estimated by the National
Safety Council at $1,000 lO00,00O. Inc
factory cost of all new passenger cars
sold in 1886 is estimate ID by the IN
dustry at 81, $40, 900 900.
I. all this inevitable? Are drivers OF
automobiles irresponsible, irrepressible
killers? Are pedestrians Q6.loo were
killed in 1885, A per Ger II OF the total)
unprotectable nitWlts?
obviously not. Yet i4 IS no answer
to say that nearly as many people
were killed by accidents IN thelr
homes (more than $1,000 in l935).
For experience has proved beyond
do,,bt that when a comm unity becomes
aroused at needless killing on its
streets, when drivers are properly
educated and pedestrian IS properly in
structed, when moder p engineering
methods are followed and particularly
when politics is eliminated so that
enforcement can be iptelligent anu
made to stick-deaths and accloents
are reduced amazingly.
Milwaukee Rate Low.
If Detroit, for example. coulo
achieve the success OF MILWAUKEE,
where fatalities were IL per lOo,ooo
in traffic last year, as compared with
Detroit,s 183-fatal q rcidentS would
he c,,t over 40 per cert in Detroit.
Evanston. ILL.,, by enlightened en-
forcement and comrh nonsense en-
gineering, cut its deatti rate in a few
wears from 28 to 2.9-tInly two deaths
last year.
Milwaukee has redul lced deaths 81
oer cent since 1882 to an average OF
ii per 100000. For the first 10 months
of 1895 the rate in New York City
was only 104. This result was OBJ
tanned merely by giving the problem
attention and insta alling modern
methods.
Providence, r. l., cut deaths 43
Der cent during the fbur-year period
Of 1928 to rate OF 7.8. by two
devices-first, abolition Of ticket fix
inp and a South Law v-revoking Ii
censes: second, traffic engineering.
Syracuse, N. Y. ser It for the ma
lions No. / traffic d op." Frank M.
Kreml from Evanstor |. Kremrs Sys-
tenn reduced Syracuse deaths from
23 in 1884 to II in 1856 death rate
Of TO- which won fer Syracuse the
National Safety Councils annual
award.
Superior, Wis, chiefly by q per-
sistent program of education. cut
deaths in a year from II to 8; its rate
to SO per 10000. And the little town
of Swissvale, Pa, with 16.900 people
and an intelligent safety program. has
had only one traffic death in four
years.
27,00o,00o Cars o n Highway.
There are on the highways 27,000,-
600 cars. from q few days to 10 years
old; 100000 drivers; 127.000.0 900
pedestrians; 3,000,0 900 miles OF high
way to be made safe, of which 1,00,-
600 miles are Surfaased. There are
too many 30-mile-an- -hour drivers in
e0-mile cars on 20-m lie roads.
What is being dome to solve this
problem? There is no one answer.
But for some years practical experts
have been finding a v hriety of answers
for q variety OF conc litions that con-
tribute to traffic tragedy. These
answers have saved hundreds Of lives.
They could save thousands every
year.
Never, until this year, did the ex-
pertS have the money 10 get the mes.
sage of those method DIS around The
safety movement ne eded . catalytic
agents-and an engine to drive it. on
o national basis.
It now has gone provided by the
automobile industry.
Adopting policy advocated for 10
yeaB by Paul G. Hoffman. president
of Studebaker, the Automobile Manu-
facturers' Association has been spread
ing money where it will do the most
good.
a- Backs Education Program.
It has financed the National Safety
Councils program bf education. 1t
u backing the drivet-training courses
and the high school driving courses
Of the American Automobile Associ-
alton.
v.,o ~ n,,v>~,, At,