Askov American., 1942-01-22
War-TimeTravel
Drop Won't Stop
Traffic Mishaps
Motorists Warned of Pc.
tential Danger in Poorer
Cars and Equipment.

duced passenger car traffic and lower
Speeds-will not of themselves re-
duce traffic accidents. If there is to
be a reduction it must be brought
about by conscious effort of the in
dividual driver. This is the warn
ing brought to Minnesota highway
officials and state safety leaders by
Graham Hutton, British information
representative, guest at the Mime
sofa Safety Councils annual meeting
held recently in st. Paul.
Might Reduce Accidents.
Taking its cue from Mr.. Hut
toms disclosures, the State Highway
department this week took note of
the apparently growing belief that
the ban on new automobiles and tires
will automatically solve the traffic
accident problem. With Sidney j..
Williams, public safety director for
the National Safety Council, as its
authority, the Highway department
asserted that three factors of war
time traffic curtailment might tend to
reduce accidents.
1. There will be fewer cars in use.
2. Those who use cars may drive less.
3. Motorists may drive slower and
more carefully, to save the car and
save the tires"
Danger Factors.
On the other hand, factors will
tend to increase traffic deaths and
injuries: /. Tires, used beyond the
safety point, will become as danger
Gus at reduced speeds as good tires
were at higher speeds. 2. Cars dis
carded as unfit for service may 60
back on the road. 8. Drivers of older
cars may have difficulty in keeping
them in even reasonably safe condi-
ton because of shortage of repair
parts and skilled mechanics. 4. War
time urgency for speed in production
and transportation of necessities may
reflect itself in a mass psychology
which, coupled with growing callous-
ness to danger and loss of life, may
further aggravate traffic safety prob
lens. S. Blackouts may come to many
cities. 6. If the impression grows
that travel curtailment will solve all
problems, there may be serious
let-down in personal and organized
safety efforts.
Traffic Deaths Trebled.
In England, Mr.. Hutton disclosed,
traffic deaths trebled under war con-
ditions, despite drastic curtailment of
-o,,occopfio1 o,,for,, ohi1o travail D,,r
ing 1941, more people were killed in
the British Isles by accident than in
all the destruction wrought by the
Nazi blitzkrieg.
Wise selection in the use of re-
treads and once-discarded automobile
tires has been stressed by the Save
lO0-Lives committee of the Mime
sofa Editorial Association in an eff
fort to cut down the 1912 traffic death
toll
Cushioned Hazards.
Ray L. Sicard of Duluth, secre-
tary of the committee states that
"retreaded tires can and are being
made safely, but they must be turned
out by reputable retreaders, and vir-
tually every city, village and town in
Minnesota has these shops. Don't
try to get 5000 or 10000 more miles
from an old tire which has already
given you $4,000 or 10000 miles of
wear. 1t simply can't be done-or
if it can, it means you are riding on
a cushioned hazard to your very life.
"The Save-100-Lives committee
feels that it can't emphasize too
strongly, the need for wise selection
of retreaded and discarded tires. And
the same wise selection can be ap-
piled to inner tubes. Minnesota must
save 100 more lives this year and the
only way it can retain its safety po-
sition in the nation is through the
help of the individual motorist," Mr..
Cicard said