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Volume 49
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Aggies Head Home
As Traffic Deaths
Reach Yearly High
By BOB PRICE r
Eighty persons will be killed and
3 f 000 will be injured during the
holidays estimates Homer Garri
son, Jr., director of the Texas De
partment of Public Safety.
And you friend, stand a good
chance of ending the holidays as
a statistic if you aren’t careful.
Let’s stop and do a little mental
arithmetic to see what odds the
Aggies have in beating the Christ
mas fatality list.
Point number one and not in
your favor is the fact that most of
the Aggies will be on the way
home during the most dangerous
time for travel. Garrison reports
that the, peak in accidents will
probably come on Dec. 24, just two
days prior to the end of school.
Approximately 1500 Cadets
wiU drive their own ear and will
probably have anywhere from
one to four riders. With odds
this big the man with the scythe
stands to make a killing.
Aside from this large group, the
boys that plan to hitch-hike home
will run the double ^ risk of being
a pedestrian casualty as well. Gar
rison figures that 25# of these es
timated deaths or 20 people will
die as pedestrian fatalities.
The obvious solution to this
problem can be found in the time
worn addage of watching out for
yourself and the other fellow at
the same time. It just takes a lit
tle more time and even less caution
to guarantee your own safe arri
val. Try to be extra careful dur-
Safety Expert
irges Public
Buying Wrecks
Thq American public is buying
f accident* rather than safety at
the rate of '$2,400,000,000 a year.
Norman Datnon vice-president of
the Automotive Safety Founda
tion made this startling announce
ment to the members of the Yale
Institute for Traffic training last
September.
We, the people, are paying the
astounding sum of two billion,
eijgbt hundred million dollars as
payment for all the traffic acci
dents that occur in the United
States each year. It seems, says
Damon, like a bad bargain when
we spend twice as much for acci
dents than we do on new roads
and streets each year.
Damon further pointed out that
the world’s greatest transporta
tion system—the highway trans
portation in the United States—
is operating.iynder the worst man
agement.
Valid support of this terrific
mismanagement is offered in the
needless waste involved in 32,000
fatalities, a million permanent in
juries and an annual economic loss
of $2,800,000,000.
I Preventative measures could be
obtained by the better and more
extensive use of the three “E’s" of
traffic safety—Enforcement, Edu
cation and Engineering, explained
Damon reported that the whole
safety set-up is in dire need of
more - better trained and bet
ter paid administrative personnel.
He ended on the note that our
major hopes for future improve
ment of these conditions depend
upon the action of three groups—
our colleges and universities for
training, responsible highway safe
ty officials for enforcement and
trained personnel to handle the
engineering end of the program.
ing this bad time and the catitipn
spent will not have been jin vain.
As a means of impressing the
importance of being careful this
holiday season let’s apply the fa
tality rate released by Gaprison to
the Aggie population.
According to the estimated
deaths of eighty people this hol
iday season, one out of every 50
Aggies could be killed. One out
of every one and one half Aggies
could be injured.
This, of course, is absurd fig
uring, but the point is far from
being absurd. Your chances of be
ing'killed" or injured are very small
in reality, but you can make them
even smaller by just being careful.
This morbid touch is just for
the sake of emphasizing the fact
that somebody is going {.o be hurt
--ddn’t let it be you.
Fire Marshall
if A
Warns Against
Xmas Hazards
Tragedy and sorrow.can be hid
den in the yeVy things- that bring
us joy and happiness- at Christmas.
Christmas trees, holiday decora
tions and even’the toys that brjng
joy to children, can, through care
lessness, be a source of unhappi
ness to many, warned Lester Bur
ney, fire marshall for the city of
Bryan ,in an interview recently.
Tragic home fires are caused
each year because people are care
less with Christmas trees and their
trimmings. A little safety precau
tion and thti use of fire proof dec
orations on the part of all of us
could alleviate much of the danger.
Thanks to programs of public
education: in fire safety many of
these hazards have been prevented,
but much remains to be done.
* Electrical toys in the hands of
small children near inflammable
trees are another source of danger.
Burney suggests that electric trains
be siet up away from trees and that
an adult plug and unplug all*elec
tric toys.
Serious hurn^ can be suffered
through the careless handling of
toys using gasoline or kerosene;
or stuffed toys and piny costumes
unless they have been flameproof-
ed.
Flameproofed cotton is advised
for safety in tree decoration. Light
ed; candles and paper decorations
should be omitted. >
* As a final clincher for a safe
Christmas at home the fire mar
shall recommends that aluminum
foil be wrapped around the tree
base where besides adjding to the
appearance of the tree, it will be
a protection against fire.
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COLLEGE STATION (Aggieland), TEXAS, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16,. 1949 ' !/ j
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Eighty Texans May
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In Peak Holida
M> DAVE COS LETT
Eighty Texans will die in traffic
accijlcnts dui'ing the approaching
holiday seasons.
Ip the period stretching from
12:01 u.m., Dec. 23 through 11:59
p.m. Jan. 1, according, to estimates,
received yesterday from the Texas
Department of Public Safety, the
1949 death toll will rise that much
in the final week of the year.
An estimated 3,000 persons will;
be injured in accidents occurrirtg;
throughout this period in Texas.
ili
Don’t Let Death Take Your Holiday
Speeding Heads Texas List
Of Traffid Fatality Causes
T—,
Breaking down these flgu
DPS Director Homer Ga:riac
Jr., say* thht 10 persons will prob
ably die on Texas highways on
Christmas Eve.
Of the anticipated 80 fabillties,
51 are doomed on rural highways
and 29 in Cities and towns.
Twenty pedestrians, days Gar
rison, should be on the list. Thirty-
two drivers and 25 passengers will
also be counted in' the total fatali
ties. The remaining three >ictims
will be bicyclists
Officials Caution Students
Leaving for Xmas Holida
the
and
appy
Car Deaths Near
Record in Tarrant
FORT WORTH, Tex., Dec. 16,
(i'P).—One more trafficj death tie-
tween now and Jan. 1 would break
Tarrant County’s all-time record
for one year. J
Mrs. Lulu Pearl Thomas, |74,
hit and killed by a car Wednesday
night, was the 83rd victim of traf
fic accidents this year.
Her death tied the gll-time rec
ord set in 1935.
For your own safety when meet
ing a car at night, do not look at
its headlights. Keep your pyes on
the right-hand side of the road.
And, SLOW DOWN!] i
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Members of the Texas State Highway Patrol stand
times to help motorists In every type &f difficulty
minor stalls through major highway mishaps.
I ready
ranging
at all
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By DAVE COSI^TT
Going to let Death take your
holiday? :
This year, as in all too many
years preceding it, many Texans
^ire doomed over the Christmas
holidays. | Despite repented warn
ings and Constant Vigilance by lo
cal and Mate police authorities,
people insiist on risking their hol
iday happiness behind the wheel of
p calf. ' I : .
Normal hol(day crowds can be
held -accbtjmtuble for the fact that
Yule4tid« deafh tolls are usually
the highest of the year. But the
basic causative factors are the
samel during the last few weeks of
each year as they are through-out
the test qf the yef^r.
pjew Main Causes
The Texas State Department of
Publjc Safety has attributed motor
■jvehicile Ufcidents to a very few
main causes.
Leading the list, as it always
has in the past, is driving too fast
for conditions. Speed merchants
contipue to be Catasrophe’s num
ber one Helper.
National accident fatalities at
tributable to speeding, as tabula
ted iby ^be Travelers Insurance
Companies, accounted last year for
44.4 percent of the natiCn’s total.
Texas hajd a comparable percen
tage standing.
By actual count, 10,080 Ameri
cans died > n accidents caused by
excessive speeds. Although gen
eral traffic accident trends have
been on aj steady down-grade since j
1937, disasters of this type seem
to be rising. The 1947 national
count was only 9,410.
Only 36.4 percent of the coun
try’s traffic injuries were trace
able to speeding drivers in 1918.
Names on the injured list totaled
338,410.
Second major 1948 accident
cause in Texas and in the nation
was driving on the wrong side of
the road. This particular driver
peculiarity decreased our popula
tion by 3,540 persons. Accounting
for 15.6 percent of national acd-
•dent fatalities, out-of-place motor
ists ranked fourth In the Injury
Hat where they were responsible
for 11 percent of the total.
Reckless Driving
The term "reckless driving" la
bels the.third major death-dealing
of tdtal as victims. Following it
were! failures to signal or improp
er signalling and passing in no
passing zones.
None Unavoidable,
The Texas Department of Pub
lic Safety, points out, incidentally,
that accident analysts refuse to
accept any accident as unavoida
ble.
1 In one of its latest booklets, the
Department says, "With the pos
sible exception of accidents caused
by mechanical failure, causative
factors can be found in every ac
cident.’’
Working from information gain
ed In yearly reports, the Texas
guardians of the highways, hope
to form a basis for safety educa
tion; traffic engineering, and plan-
motorist practice. Perpetrators | nod enforcepicnt in years to come.
-4—
claimed 3,140 victims and injured
116,210 more. Thirteeen percent
of the fatalities ^and 12.5 percent
of the injuries were laid tp this.
People who did not have the
right of way boosted the nation's
traffic death list by 12.7 percent.
Some' - 2,880 persons paid fully for
someone’s mistake. Fourth in the
fatality causes, this reason ranks
second in the causative factor for
injury count. * With a tabulation
of 202,680 or 21.8 percent.
. Exactly 1.000 U. S. citizens
drove off the roadway to their
doom to become part of the 4.4
percent deaths laid to this cause.
Three percent of the injured list
became statistics this way.
Passing on the wrong side of
the road rated next nationally as
a lives-!ost item with 3.6 percent
Dangers at Dusk
Slow Down at Sun Down
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Urged as Driver Motto
BY ROGER t'OSLETT
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Twilight on the desert is a sight
one ;long remembers. Twilight or);
the highway of tpe city street is
seeri by iall but best remembered by
by the driver who failed to heed
its hidden dangers.
More accidents happen at dusk
than at any other time during the
day according to figures released
by the- Traveler's Insurance Co..
2,240 person were killed, 83,270'.
more were injured between the
hours of 6 and t 7 p. nr. in 1947.
This total jumped to 2,290 per
sons killed, 92,670 injured in 1948|
What will be the total for 1949?
The’total can be held down, says
Travelers if we till recognize and
understand the hazards that twi
light driving holds; in store for
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The yplune of traffic is near its
peak between the hours of 6 and 7
p. rfi., for that is the houj- when
drivers And pedestrians alike, tired
from their day’s work, are-anxious
to get home.
Inat, too, is the hour when your
visibility is imps)i rt ‘^ by the sub
“Stop Accident” Paper
Campaign Aids Nation
1,150,000 people were killed or
injured in auto accidents during
1948. The death rate per million
miles pf travel dropped from 9;8
in 1946 to 8.1 in 1948—the lowest
on record,
large
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port of the "Stop Accidents" aCir.-
<* hv newspapers all over
They ask only that each citizen
co-operate by doing his part
throughout the holiday season and
the rest of the year to drive wise
ly, courteously and safely.
As you lay aside your college activities to spe
holidays at home, I wish for each of you a safe journe
for you and your loved ones a Merry Christmas and a I
New Year. fj • II' • .j ■. [I- • !
May you return refreshed and with a renewed determin
ation to make 1950 the best jyear in your life.
j; J F. C. Bolton,
|:j President
★ ★ ★
The greatest joy and happiness of the holiday season
comes from being at home with our family and loved ones.
Memories of these Christmas - times are precious beyond
words fo you and your family. Keep them so by using evf
ery precaution when you are on the highway driving or rid^
ing hoihe next week. It is just as necessary to be cautious
and alert to the other fellow as to be sure pf your own car.
The fastest driver does not always reach his destination first;.
Remember that the joy and happiness of those who
await you are in your hands. Keep faith with them, and
have a Merry, Merry Christmas—each one of you.
M. T. Harrington,
| i Dean of
J . . ( j'T’n
The majority of the accident*,
fatal and utherwUe, .will occur on
ChrUtmaM Eve an acorc* of motor-
home* and
15 perapnn
iiitt* race toward their
fami|iee. 'jhaiit year
died in 13 uccidcntn o •cm ring on
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★ ★ ★
Within another week we’ll all be g^ing our varioi s ways
for the Christmas holidays. For those
mobiles let’s remember that we can add to thje pleasure of
the College
*
of us who ow
n auto-
the Christmas season by driving carefully and sanely.^Let!
i within the legal speed limits at all times and in cas
tin, ice or sleet let’s drive safely—or better, not at all.
To each and every one who goes his way, a Merry Christ
mas and a Happy NeW Year. You will enjoy the holidays
all the more if you will just remember that generally \yhat aji
automobile does is largely a matter of who is at the steer
ing wheel. _ : j - j : j p L
Ernest Langford,
Mayor of“ College Station
Most Dangerous Season
Winter Weather Bodes III
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To Unprepared Motorists
as it goes down. So if you want to
get home for that Christmas din
ner, or any other dinner, when the
sun goes down, slow down. This
slogan is urged by the Travelers id
their new booklet, "The Human
Race.’’
Human eyes adjust more easily
from darkness to light than from
light to darkness, and drivers are
more alert when going to work in
the morning than when -returning^
at night.
One adjustment leads to another.
The booklet suggests that you ad
just your pressure on the gas pedal
to compensate for the decrease in
visibility at twilight.
This one simple adjustment
might mean the difference between
your ever seeing' a twilight again.
How to Be Fined
In Three Lessons
ENGLEWOOD. Colo. —OP— Pa
trolman Martin Knisley saw a mo
torist pass a red Might and gave
chase ip his police car. . Both cars
swung out to pass a tnick. Knis
ley lost cont|ol and his car swerv
ed into a ditch.
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| America.
As the officer, cut and bruised,
climbed out; the car he’d been
chasing* throve up. The driver had
seen the mishap fn his rear vision
mirror and turned back to give
help.
Knisley asked to be driven to the
Englewood police station, thanked
the driver for the lift and handed
him a summons for speeding and
running a red signal.
By JOHN TAPLEY
Once again the cold blasts of
winter have started to chill the
country. As the winter season is
ushered in, the highways and roads
of the nation will become more
hazardous to those who use them.
Motorists are being urged by the
National Safety Council to prepare
for the winter months ahead. The;
Council especially urges this prep
aration for the fast-approaching
holiday seasons.
Increased hours of darkness team
against drivers in winter months
with fog, rain, snow, sleet, and! ice
greatly increasing the dangers in
herent in the operation of an auto
mobile. Motorists can prepare for
these bad driving conditions by pre
paring their cars and following a
few special winter driving tech
niques such as the ones set forth
by the Aetna Casualty and Surity
Company in a booklet entitled
^“Winter Driving Dangers.”
Getting a car ready for winter
driving, says the booklet, involves
more than an oil change and the
addition of anti-freeze to the ra
diator. The preparation of the ear
should come before the winter
months set in, and should involve a
complete check of the brakes, tires,
liglhts, windshield, vision aids, and
heaters. *
National Safety Council sta-
tistics show that in one out of
every six fatal accidents, the
driver’s vision was obscured. A
complete check of windshield
wipers and defrosters will insure
good vision. \ ! . ,
The booklet asked, "Are your
brakes equalized?”, pointing out
that improper equalization can
throw a car into skid, particularly
in "slippery weather.
Wheel-alignment and tire condi
tion are two more factors men
tioned which increase skid — and
accident—possibilities.
Lights should receive the next
consideration, says Aetna, and
should be properly adjusted at all
times. Cautioning drivers to carry
extra fuses and bulbs, the booklet
points out that long winter nights
merit evjery precaution.
Another word of warning con
cerns the Shuffler and exhaust
system, which should be checked
to insure against deadly carbon
monoxide gas getting into the
car. Carbon monoxide is a col
orless, odorless, tasteless gas
and only one part to "10,000
parts' of air can prove fatal.
The book’s first caution on ac
tual winter driving concerns Chains.
Based on tests conducted by the
National Safety Council, Aetna
urges the use of full chains for
snow and ice driving. On packed
snow rear wheel chains reduce
braking distance from ,69 to 40
feet. Full chains add a further
margin of safety by affording a
28 feet stop.
On glare ice, a car with no
chains requires a stopping dis
tance of 169 feet. A car with
re*r-wheel chains brakes to’ a
stop in 88 feet and a car with'
full chains halts in just 63 feet.
Letting air out of tires, says the
booklet, only increases drfVing haz
ards on curves in icy weather. Nor,
it continues, do emergency chains^
take the placfe of fulj chains. Start
ing in second gear, incidentally4the men
reduces probabilities of skids 6n 'jh
take off.
For avoiding skids, the "booklet
suggests no sudden I wheel turning
and no disengagement of the
clutch;
To check skids, Aetna advises
you to first identify them. Five
distinct types each call fw dif
ferent action. Fo^ plain skids,
due to excessive braking power,
release brakes instantly and
check the car’s movement by cah-i
tious intermittent applications
of the brakes. '
For braking slides, turn into the
direction of the rear-wheel slide,
cutting sharply fori heavy vehicles,
less abruptly fori lighter; orjes.
Steering skids result from care
less direction of tlje car op going
into curves too fast. They and
)gpeed apd power Skids, must be
handled by any means possible.;
Additional cautions call for
reading (the road ahead, accurately
(See WEATHER, Page 2, fiec. II)
Memorize This Information
SPEED and STOPPING DISTANCES l"
Dec. 24. New Year’s Day totalii
are likewise high.
Last year’s statistics from, the
safety department rahk the day
preceding Christmas ds the mast
deadly day of the yeaj\ «
Adding to this year’s dangers
will be the fact that many college
students, starting their holidays
during the Chriistmas week, will ^
help congest state traffic condf-’*
tions. Numerous A&M students,
living some distance fjrom College
.Station, will still be on the roads
when traffic dangers approach
their peak. !
Heavy Christmas travel by non-
motorists will also help to congest
the highways. Bus companies
throughout the state are anticipat
ing double and triple rims, accord
ing to the industrial Extension
Service. - A i. -
Holiday mail and package de
liveries will do their part in tax-V
ing transportation facilities. And
commercial transports, most of
them hauling .every-day necessity
items, will furnish their normal
traffic load.
A further ominous note for the
year is the fact thav Uhristmaa
Eve falls on a Saturday, the day
rated nationally and in Texas as J.,
the most opportune time for acci- j -
dents. Over 20 per cent of the
yearly accidents in this state hap
pen oh Saturdays. ,,]
Weather conditions over the hol
idays cannot be accurately predict
ed at this time, but safety depurt-
mqrjt officials warn ttyrt motorisjts
not be lulled into complacency by
fair weather conditions, if such
conditions prevail next week.
National figures show that moto
than 86 per cent of fatal highway
disasters happen in dear weather.
In the event of had weather, the
Travelers Insurance Companies
have warned motorists to ;be on
igqard against the "iwin buga*
[pook" of inadequate, traction and
reduced visibility. Theee two fac
tors are held nminly hccountalild
for foul weather driving disasters.
Both national and state safely
experts agree that the word fpr
jsafe driving in bad weather is
{"slow.”
Department of Public Safety of
ficials have askedeach citizen to
Insure,' by co-operating with all
state and local officials and -by
observing the common decency
rules of .good driving, that He doe>
not enter the ranks of the traffic
dead over the holidays.
1
Ladies Lag Behind
In Accident Totals
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Who is the better driver—thu
man or the woman?
According to recent figures re
leased by the Traveler’s Insuranc} 1
Company women have had only
[00 accident's to th^ 37,300 tor
hese figures are for the year
1946. This years statistics are n< t
yeti complete, Traveleij’s said. | j !
The vast difference; said Tra
elef’s, between the number of a:-
cidents involving members of earh
of pe sexea, js due to; the numb ir
of car miles traveled. Studi ?s
haVe shown that men will drive is
much as eight times as many c»r
miles as the women.; And mih,
because of their work, travel in »H
kinds of weathqr. | ,
The Travelers comment erds
with this qlrote:
“Until more data becomfn
available, it will be impossible
compare thJ "driving abilities
men and women.
Three out j of five
■ vehicle accidents occ
Heavy traffic and
during the early hou
account for a large 4hare of.
increase.
—
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