I 1 ! Up T. 7 . .V ■ Battalion i . j Special Safety Edition \ 1' - . ‘7 ' ! i v77 .■ j 17 i , 1 I if - f ii • ' d . The I ! Volume 49 ■ I nit T « ' , » i' « 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. m m m i 'Mi mm ! Tis battalion ; . , j. j-i ’ ‘ ' , ' J — | COLLEGE STATION (Aggieland), TEXAS, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16,. 1949 ' !/ j j T / ’f rftHi 11 M [v the Se ason j' ."I i: •. j- ■ • t. - •: ■' m n I?’ f m, < : ■ - H| r :l; * ,4 ' ^ ; -■i I -wf 1 11 Pugin Him Mr" ' Si; '%':V itiiliy il ii ci j' . - ' i - r ii; SECTION - n Eighty Texans May © J ! J 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 II ’i w si m M;, -r' 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 g from 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 r it i r ■ "Jl i] Urged as Driver Motto BY ROGER t'OSLETT | | j j | I 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 ■ us - ! “ i e\\ ■ , 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 ‘ehrar r W . _ 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 •L 7 ★ ★ ★ 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 i 1 ■ ■ ■ ; * ■ j j- ■ * ■ •; 11 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. lijtci ffic E, . ■ .-.i .,:1, paigns Iby | 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 !l 7 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. — MOU* 79 59 S8 103 blOmNG DlSlANCtb A2 (i. " KMOW IftA UNO** ACt ♦ 177“ ■J! .'i- »• •». :.~71 i! I* .n i •H fOK IM» AVIRA(,[ nmyrn witm masowabiy f.ooo-BAagts AND Tims on AGCCD ROAD SU«IACf r ro