The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-09-04

Lifting of the pleasure driving
 ban and the opening of schools
 elicited the following open letetr to
 parents from Patrolman William Dwyer, School Safety Instructor, and
 member of Capt. William Duggan's
 Accident Prevention Bureau.
 With the opening of school only
 e few days away 1t is time once
 again to consider the safety of our children on their way to and from school. A great many parents arc
 under the impression that so long
 as a policeman is stationed at a
 crossing directly in front of school
 then there is no need to worry. Well some children have to cross great
 many intersections before geeting to
 the school and in some cases these
 crossings are just as dangerous as
 the one that exists in front of the
 school. Of course all streets are
 dangerous if we fail to take the proper precautions before stepping out into the highway. There has been letdown on the part of all pedestrians to take the necessary steps when crossing the street due to the fact that there has been a great reduction in the number of cars on the roads. But with the pleasure ban lifted there will be an increase in the traffic and If past experiences are any criterion then the accident rate will rise accord ingly.
 The lifting of the ban comes at @ very inopportune time so far as the safety of the children Is concerned because a great many children will be travelling over strange intersec- tons on their way to school. We should keep in mind that the short- est route to the school is not al- ways the safest one and in connec- tion with this angle we you'd like to suggest to the parents or guardian of school children that they go over the same intersections to be travelled by their children on their way to and from school. In this way as parents can point out the dangers that exist at different type crossings. Hundreds of children have moved from one section of the city to an- other and many more are recent arrivals in the city itself. So if we take time out from our war duties long enough to protect our children and this should come first with all of us, then we will be doing the most important job on the home front. President Franklin D. Roose- welt has said that accident preven- tion is mighty strong link in that long chain called the united war effort. Children learn by doing and we find that children who are allowed to use the streets going to the store, etc., seldom get into any serious trouble on the highways.
 On the other hand we believe that some children are protected being taken to school by the hand and are never lot cross the street | on their own. This procedure may be all right with the very young ones but the (learn by doing) | method is probably the best way. | There are too many (dont's) con- nected with safety especially in dealing with the children. We tell | them don't do this and don't do that.a nd they will do it anyway when we are not around even though | we may thik that my boy is trained and he wouldn't dare cross the | street unless I told him, etc. But if you have trained your child and | you feel as though he knows what | to do then you have an ease of mind | when he is not in sight. As parents | we all know that in spite of all | that is being done in the science of | accident prevention that someho accident prevention that somehow | children will become involved with | the greatest of all demons (0le Man | AccidentO. The best VIC can hope to | do is to keep the accident rate down | as low as possible. Let us al CO., operate.
 Here are a few simple rules for l all pedestrians to follow and espe. eially the children.
 The A. 8. c. of safety is (Al als ways lBl be co careful at home, l at play, in sehcol. remember ole man | accident ls waiting to set you into l his clutches,
 The aItatasl magician of all time 1 ile ean change sou suddenly from l . nice healthy boy oF girl into hospital patient all ln 8 fraction os q noeano,
 ahs only way to beai him la to bs 1 careful every minute ol illa aaT.
 MafaNa NHNHzIHa 1ha NffaHt HaFaNM.