Milford chronicle., 1955-08-05
Better Highways For Safety

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the United States would save an
estimated $500 lives each year by
drastically reducing traffic acct
dents which TO date have exacted q
toll twice the total of battle deaths
in all wars in this nations his
tory.
These are human lives reduced
to a statistic. 1t Is a factual sta
tistic that spells tragedy in thou
sands of American families every
year. as the slaughter on the high
ways continues. 1t does not take
into account the vast economic loss
resulting from highway accidents
which kill $4,000 persons year.
In the judgment of the country s
foremost traffic safety experts a-ssi
highway engineers. there is great
er tragedy in the grim fact that this
loss OF human life is needless and
Eenseless 1t does not have to be-
The blame, they insist, cannot be
attributed entirely to excessive
speeds and reckless driving, though
these factors OF course play part.
Much OF the fault is due to the OBJ
solete condition OF highways which
were not designed for modern
speeds or for the growing volume
OF motor vehicle traffic.
These recognized authorities es-
innate that traffic accidents could
be reduced from 40 to so per cent
by building more and better high
ways now to meet present and fu-
ture needs.
AS vital as it is, the traffic safe
ty factor is only one of many COM
pelling reasons advanced for COM
pieting an adequate national high
way system, such as the proposed
network of 10000 miles now un-
der consideration by the Congress.
Better roads also are needed to
permit the continued growth of
the national economy for the ben
eft OF all. They are needed for
national defense in the event of
enemy attack. In a very real
sense, they are needed for sur
vival of this nation and its econ
omy. The. alternative could be eco
nomic strangulation--or worse, in
the event of war Directly or indi-
rectly, the problem of good roads
affects every man, woman and
child in the United States.
The proposal now before Cen
gress calls for completion or i'm
provement of an interstate high
way system in 10 years.
The urgent need is undisputed.
The record of present highway de-
ficiencies, with all its cost in
terms of lives and money, indi-
Gates that the projected system
would be cheap at any price; that,
indeed, the country no longer can
afford NOT to build it.
High government officials and
leaders in industry, finance, engi-
neering and other fields have tes-
titled along these lines before Con-
gressional committees. Their opin-
ions are based on solidly docu-
mented facts.
From the standpoint of increas-
ing traffic safety. Carl E. Fritts,
engineering official of the Auto
motive Safety Foundation, esti-
mates that an average of one life
would be saved annually for each
ten miles of the proposed system.
"At that rate.' says Fritts, dur
ing the first 10 years following
the improvement of the Interstate
System, about $4,000 lives would
be saved-roughly the equivalent
of years traffic toll in the ma
ton"
Citing test surveys to back his
statements, Fritts points out that
highways built to achieve maxi
mum benefits in transportation
service also provide the highest
degree of safety. Conversely, ac-
cidents increase as traffic conges-
ton increases. It's as simple as
that.
. Fritts makes other salient points
More than so per cent of the Fed
eral-aid highway system has the
original design, created more than
20 years ago, for average operat-
ing speeds and traffic volume much
less than prevail now.
In Connecticut a four-year study
shows that 7.770 highway traffic ac-
cidents might have been avoided if
all rural highways had been inn
proved to accepted design stand
ards
Another $500 accidents might
have been avoided on urban Con-
necticut highways. That makes a
total of almost 10000 avoidable ac-
cidents, or 43 per cent of all that
occurred in Connecticut.
Refuting the theory that accident
frequency is higher on the social
ed express super-highways, other
studies prove that seven out of ten
of motor vehicle deaths, and more
than one-half of all traffic injuries.
occur on free. and open roads in
rural areas.
In Illinois it was shown that cor
rection of one element of highway
design-pavement widjh-account-
ed for drop of 80 per cent in ac-
cident rate.
Other surveys show drastic re-
duction in the accident rate by
widening highway shoulders. elm
mating sharp curves and other inn
provement in design.
AS for the shocking record of
highway deaths and injuries. the
National Safety Council reports