Death
Nineteen persons are giving
themselves for Christmas this
year on Texas highways. That’s
the estimated Christmas eve traf
fic death toll from Homer Gar
rison, director of the Texas De
partment of Public Safety.
And a total of 105 Texans will
use our highways to go out with
the old year. That’s Garrison’s es
timate of traffic fatalities during
the period from 12:10 a. m., Dec.
23, through midnight, Jan. 1.
Of these traffic deaths, 40
should occur in urban areas. An
other 65 tragedies will have a
rural setting. Of the doomed
Texans, says Garrison, 80 are
males and 25 are females.
Suicides, homicides, and other
accidents will kill 106 more Texans
in the 8-day period to raise the
violent death toll to 211, if pre
dictions hold true.
The foreboding prediction, well
above last year’s totals, are in
keeping with the rise in traffic
tragedy this year. All told, 2,400
persons are scheduled to die this
year. Only 1,957 victims v/ere
claimed by Texas traffic last
year.
A&M students heading home for
the holidays this year have one
advantage over these who made
the trip last year. They should
be there long before highway ac
cidents hit their yearly peak on
Christmas Eve.
The shocking jump in highway
disaster, though, may all but re
move this advantage.
Probable causes for the wreck-
strewn holiday highways will be
those normal aspects of careless
driving— speeding, road-hogging,
passing in restricted zones, etc.—
plus the added dangers of crowded
highways and over-indulgence in
Yule “spirits.”
Commercial transportation, run
ning a heavier-than-usual sche
dule will add to the crowd-strained
highways. And that last minute.
Christmas rush will mean even
more than the average amount of
excess speeding, deadliest high
way practice.
As in every holiday period,
local and state law mforcement ■
agencies will foe working over-,
time to protect Texas citizens.
Their efforts, however, will foe
to no avail without the coopera
tion of those they try to help.
With death shrouding the holi
day atmosphere, every motorist
has been asked by the Depart
ment of Public Safety to take
three protective guests home for
Christmas — Courtesy, Coopera
tion and Common Sense.
Everyone that utilizes these
highway life-savers to the utmost
will be aiding in the drive to make
safety a fact instead of a slogan.
A Word from, Homer Garrison
Austin, Dec. 15—(Spl.)—Declaring that the tremendous increase in
Texas traffic deaths this year is due to indifference on the part of motor
ists, Colonel Homer Garrison, Jr., Director of the Texas Department of
Public Safety, today directed a friendly word of warning toward the
State’s college students.
“In 1949,” Garrison said, “only about 12% of the population of Texas
were of generally accepted college age; yet this group accounted for ap
proximately 17% of the rural motor vehicle traffic accidents during that
period.”
He acknowledged that, of course, all within the age group were not
students in institutions of higher learning but that the pattern made ob
vious the fact that the 18 to 22 year olds displayed an accident proneness
far in excess of their actual number.
The Safety Director’s suggestion to college youths for an improve
ment in their driving safety record called for a combatting of the appar
ent indifference that now exists. “This can be accomplished,” Garrison
said, “by an increased'observance of the traffic laws both on and off the
campus.”
“Let us not forget,” he added, “that the most important lesson we
have to learn is to learn to live!”
1950 Annual
* Christmas Safety
Edition
1
If ini |jf jf jf # M50 Annual
ihe Hdtiiihon~’
- SAFETY EDITION
COLLEGE STATION (Aggieland), TEXAS, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1950
Page 3
, Ten Times As Many As Died on Iwo Jima . . .
7,100 Teen-agers Killed, 320,000 Injured
By HERB O’CONNELL
r 7,100 killed, 320,000 injured—
all teen-agers.
If the evening papers contain-
« ed such a headline, every reader
would be so affected by the tragic
news that he would contribute
everything within his power to
prevent such mass murder.
Yet, this was the actual tragic
toll of youngsters between the
ages of 15 and 24 killed in auto
mobile accidents last year. And
nobody seems to be moved enough
by the figures to do anything about
» it.
Every two minutes, some mother
somewhere sobs over the fatalities
or injuries suffered by a son or
daughter who “was just a baby” or
who falls into the under-25 age
bracket.
Bloodier Than Iwo .lima
This rate totals more casualties
than the United States forces suf
fered at Iwo Jima in the late war
—ten times as many, according to
Ralph Wallace, author of “Kid
Killers At the Wheel,” which ap
peared in the May 28 issue of
Collier’s.)
Numerous factors enter into
numerous causes of the accidents
that plague our highways each
hour of each day. According to
Dr. Norman Damon, vice-president
of the Automotive Safety Founda
tion, the majority of all automobile
accidents are caused by poor driv
ing habits and driving faults such
as driving tod''‘'fhS't7'bad , '7udgmeht,
di’iving while drinking, bluffing at
intersections. Lack of knowledge of
good driving practices, careless
ness, and the minority—the delib
erate disregarding of rules, sig
nals, and markings-—also contri
bute.
Teen-agers are subject to pos
sessing these faults as well as
anyone else, but with the other
foolish practices intermingled with
these faults, such as clowning,
speeding, and dreaming, the acci
dent rate among teen-agers in re
cent years has rocketed to a new
high.
Deadly Teen-Ager Sport
An example of clowning is the
comparatively new craze, “chick
en,” a game that has become quite
popular among the teen-agers of
larger cities.
The game involves piling some
six or seven youngsters into an
automobile, holding the car to a
speed of something like 60 miles
per hour, and releasing the steer*-
ing wheel. The first of the gang
who touches the steering wheel
or brake is—you’ve guessed it—
“chicken.” Like “Russian Rou
lette,” “chicken” has the advantage
in that if you win, you take one
or all of your friends with you.
Another such sport is having
.three teen-agers crouching on the
floor to operate the brake, clutch,
and the accelerator at the com
mand of the navigator who is
operating the steering wheel. This
is known as “spider.”
Clowning in a speeding automo
bile sounds as if the driver has
the combined mentality of a cobra
and a cockroach—even to a 15-
year-old. Yet older operators than
15-year-olds have frequently been
gathered up in “gunny sacks” as a
result of playing “chicken” or
“spider.”
Youngsters “Show Off”
Although these games cause only
q fraction of the total teen-age
accidents, they perfectly exempli
fy the probable reason for more
accidents among the 15-25 age
group than among other age
groups—too much energy or the
tendency to “show off.”
The article—“Stop Highway
‘Teenicide’ ”—in the June 20 is
sue of Look, proves that these
young drivers get the majority of
their driving habits from their
parents or whoever teaches them
to drive. And, in their young and
energetic stage of life, they will
tend to stretch the rules of safe
ty taught them by their teacher.
Good Example Needed
For instance, if the instructor
drives 50-miles-pei - -hour, the stu
dent, in the presence of the in
structor, will also drive 50 miles
per hour. But, when he gets be
hind the wheel without the in
structor sitting by his side, he, in
his adventurous age, will invariab
ly increase his speed to a more
satisfying 60 or 70.
This holds true in other habits
as well. Therefore, a parent, when
teaching Junior to herd the family
vehicle, will not find it advisable
to slip by a stop sign on the sly
or get by with going 40 in a 30
mile zone.
Good Teen-age Drivers, Too
There is no doubting the fact
that there are good teen-age driv
ers on the highways today. But,
there are also many “goats”
or poor drivers intermingled who
do not only endanger their own
lives but also those of the good
drivers.
Our laws governing the posses
sion of firearms are rigid indeed;
but our laws governing the posses
sion and operation of perhaps an
even more dangerous weapon—the
automobile—are contrarily very
lax.
Few people of today are unfam
iliar with the causes of excessive
automobile accidents in the 15-25
age group. The problem that has
to be contended with now is the
finding of a combination of remed
ies that will cut the number of
automobile fatalities down to an
unavoidable minimum.
There is a nationwide safety
campaign currently being conduct
ed by newspapers, schools and
many civic organizations who have
ultimately realized the need for
safety measures on the highways.
It has been proven in experi
ments by the American Automobile
Association, that maturity and
judgement in driving can be taught
just as Math 101, ballroom danc
ing, and politeness can be taught.
Consequently, the most promin-
nent of devices stressed in safe
guarding the motor vehicle oper
ator is the proper training of
young drivers. Many schools have
taken up a behind-the-wheel
training course which teaches the
students the elements of safe
driving.
Classes, under well-qualified in
structors, show teen-agers that
there is no room for horseplay on
the highway. They learn to watch
out for the other guy as well as
themselves.
Testing Devices Used
Testing devices help the student
realize that he is not capable of
mastering all situations the first
time. And they check for other
deficiencies such as color-blindness
and lack of depth perception.
Later comes the actual road
work in d car with dual controls.
This is where the student finds out
that there is more to driving an
automobile than merely steering
and shifting.
These courses have cut down
the teen-age accident rate as
much as fifty per cent in the lo
calities where they have been
taught and practiced. But, in a
recent poll conducted by Gordon
C. Graham, Supei-visor of Safety
Education, Detroit Public Schools,
only 8,000 of the 29,000 high
schools in the United States offer
such courses.
‘What Can I Do’
In a leaflet published by the
National Commission on Safety
Education in cooperation with the
National Committee for Traffic
Safety which was sent to each of
its millions of members, there was
the question, “What can I do?”
The’answer: “We can stop ac
cidents or allow them to continue.
“If we want to stop them—and
we do—we must cut them off at
the source. Since driver error is
the cause of most accidents, prop
er training of the driver Avhile he
is young is a big step toward so
lution of the traffic accident prob
lem. It is a task in which edu
cators and the public alike have a
stake.”
Solution Dependent on Everyone
This problem will not be solved
if left entirely in the hands of the
high schools, newspapers, and so
cial groups.
The solution is dependent upon
a combination of the driver cour-
(See TEENICIDE, Page 8)
Keep Yourself, Christmas
Spirit Alive—Gov. Shivers
P LEASE let me congratulate The Battalion upon its plan
to publish a special safety edition on December 15. The
safety program sponsored and promoted at Texas A&M Col*
lege by your fine newspaper undoubtedly has contributed
greatly to increased safety on the highways and streets used
by your readers.
It is my feeling that only
through an increased aware
ness on the part of the public;
of traffic dangers and appro
priate safety measures are we-
ever going to approach a real
solution to this urgent prob
lem. Campaigns such as yours
;i will help.
1 It is especially appropriate
|| that your special safety edi
tion appears just before the
Christmas holidays. The holi
day season is the peak period
of the year for traffic acci-
pi dents, and it calls for extra
caution on everybody’s part,'
(jHver and pedestrian alik
Allan Shivers
Governor of Texas
As governor of Texas, I
urge the wholehearted coop
eration of all citizens with our law enforcement officers in
this safety campaign—the only purpose of which is to save,
lives. And remember—the life you save may be your own!
I earnestly hope that each resident of our state, each
visitor and especially the young people going home for the
holidays will assume individual responsibility for avoiding
accidents. If we do this, we really can keep the Christmas
spirit—and all of us—alive this year.
JllLi Sh
nvcrA
Governor, The State of Texas
Texas Patrolmen Learn Highway Guardianship Well
Meet the man who guards your highways—your Texas Highway
Patrolman. Through the cooperation of the Highway Patrol
Division of the Texas Department of Public Safety we present
a pictorial narrative 'of the fashioning of a guardian of Texas
highways.
The tale really begins in Wills Point, Jacksboro, El Paso, Dallas
or Bryan, when a young, energetic, alert and healthy Texan fills
out and submits an application for entry into the famed Texas
Highway Patrol. Appearing for an examination at a designated
place in the State, he is joined by numerous other applicants in
struggling through a three-hour maze of queries ascertaining
his qualifications and potentials as an officer. A selection board
of Patrol officials scrutinize and orally quiz him. Next comes an
exhaustive character investigation. Notification that he has been
found acceptible for training leadd him to his first step of actual
training at the Austin Headquarters of the Texas Department of
Public Safety (first picture.)
Here again he is checked—this time physically (second picture)
to see that he meets the height and weight requirements and is
able to withstand the rigid training course. Heart, respiration and
blood pressure get a check here.
Then comes class work (third picture) which touches on many
and varied courses. Note taking is essential.
As a Highway Patrolman he will be called upon to address civic
and school groups. Public speaking training (fourth picture),
therefore, is another essential.
Of course, there’s good food to compensate for the long, hard hours
of training. And he makes short work of it (fifth picture).
His training includes everything from the manly art of self-
defense to the proper use of fire-arms (sixth picture). Some of
the nation’s best experts instruct in marksmanship
He even gets a session with a motorcycle. Though seldom used by
the Patrol, the “critters” are mounted by each student-patrolman
who learns to man them well.
Seven weeks, 376 hours of instruction, several strained muscles, and
some pounds later he receives his commission. Experience on the
far-flung maze of Texas highways will make of this “rough-hewn
product” in the months and years to come a competent and pol
ished police officer.
His primary duty of enforcing the Uniform Traffic Code of Texas
will keep him busy. Texas has an enviable record in this enforce
ment.
This job of protecting lives and property of Texas citizens took the
more than 400 members of the Patrol the incredible distance of
35,548,599 miles in two years during which they effected 230,000
arrests and 683,000 warnings. Apprehension of traffic violators
and criminals is only part of the Highway Patrolman’s job. He
will make on-the-scene investigations of rural accidents. In that
same two year period officers gave information and rendered as
sistance to motorists over two million times. Above and beyond
the call of duty tasks may find him removing highway obstruc
tions, rendering first aid, teaching first aid classes, giving blood
transfusions and organizing school patrols or rescuing disaster
victims.
“Courtesy, Service and Protection”—this is his motto. And he
lives up to it well in the honorable and exacting task of saving
and protecting the lives and property of the people of the Lone
Star State.