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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 15, 1950)
T Friday, December 15, 1950 THE BATTALION 1950 Annual Christm as Safety Edition Page 5 Top Traffic Villain—SPEED . . . Password of an Atomic Age Is Deathword on Highways By ROGER COSLETT Since the time when early man first made use of the wheel his life has evolved through the cen turies at a pace at which the wheel was forever gaining momen tum and speed—speed that when used wisely and constructively has resulted in boundless power and wealth for him, but when misused has brought him nothing but heartache and destruction. Speed has become a password in an age that has seen supersonic jet airplanes break the barrier of sound. It has also become a death- word on our city streets and high ways—A death word that last i year, according to the Travelers ^Jedt l^Jour el)riving J). Q. How much do you actually know about driving your car? This quiz, condensed from the Travelers Insurance Companies’ booklet “Making Par with Your Car,” may help ° you to find out. Check what you consider the right answer to each ques tion, then turn to page 6 to check your auto I.Q. Give your- h self 8 points for each of the first 10 questions you answer correctly. Add an additional four points for each correct True-False question. Par for the quiz is 72, but don’t be satisfied with that for your score. With your life at stake whenever you sit at ‘ the wheel of your car, nothing less than a 100 per cent rating should satisfy you. ( 1. Day in and day out, month in and month out, year in and year out, automobile accidents take the lives, each day, of more than—• a. 10 persons b. 25 persons c. 50 persons d. 100 persons 2. Old Man Weather is blamed for a great many things. How responsible is he for automobile accidents? Most fatal crashes occur .Under one of the following conditions— a. rain b. fog c. clear d. snow 3. Don’t look now, but one of the following age groups contributes •) much more than its share of automobile drivers involved in fatal acci dents. a. b. under 18 years 18 to 24 years 25 to 64 years 65 years and over 4. So you can stop on a dime with five cents change? Don’t brag, brother, unless you can collect your change on the way through the windshield. Actually, your brakes should be adjusted so they will bring your car to a stop from a speed of 20 miles an hour in— a. five to ten feet c. twenty to thirty feet b. ten to twenty feet d. thirty to forty feet 5. A pedestrian starts to cross the street on the green light or GO sign, but the signal changes while he is still in the street. The law says one of these may now proceed— to ao . a. all motorists c. the pedestrian b. motorists making turns d. midgets on scooters r 6. When you double your speed, the distance in which your oar can be brought to a stop after you apply the brakes—• a. remains the same c. is trebled b. is doubled d. is quadrupled 7. A car traveling at a speed of 60 miles an hour has the same capacity for inflicting damage as it would have if it were driven off the top of a building— a. two stories high b. four stories high c. six stories high d. eight stories high e. ten stories high 8. If the turning radius of a car going 25 miles an hour is 80 feet, at 75 miles an hour it will be— a. 80 feet c. 160 feet e. 500 feet b. 100 feet d. 320 feet f. 720 feet 9. If you want to qualify as an expert you will always drive at a speed which will allow you to stop, under any conditions—< a. within 500 feet b. within three car lengths c. within the assured safe distance which you can see d. within one car length 10. The figures say that if your car is involved ip an accident the chances are that it will be found to have a. defective brakes d. no apparent defects b. a punctured or blown tire e. defective headlights c. defective steering mechanism f. faulty tail light 11. Since there’s only about 25 per cent as much traffic on the roads at night as there is in TRUE FALSE the daytime, it’s safe to drive faster at night. 12. Women drivers are involved in more auto mobile accidents than male drivers. 13. Carbon monoxide gas smells like burning leaves. 14. One highball or cocktail, or two glasses of beer, will not impair one’s driving ability. 15. Drivers with less than one year’s experi ence at the wheel cause a majority of accidents. TRUE FALSE TRUE FALSE TRUE FALSE TRUE FALSE Insurance Company’s 1950 street and highway accident booklet en titled Maim Street, claimed the lives of 10,100 men, women and children across the nation—a deathword that also injured some 398,700 more. Maim Street’s pages show that 41.9 per cent of traffic fatalities in the U. S. in 1941 were due to exceeding the speed limit. In 194'8, 44.4 per cent were attri buted to this cause while last year’s 44.9 per cent total made speed the greatest factor in auto deaths than at any time in history. Two out of every five traffic fatilities are due to speed, con firms Look magazine. Man through his mind has in creased the efficiency and speed of his automobiles. In part, there fore, it must be through the use of his own mind that he learns to exercise more conscience and less speed in control of them. James S. Kemper, Chairman of the Kemper Foundation for Traf fic Safety, has correctly establish ed that automobile accident pre- ventiion is a moral issue requir ing no simple solution-. Every driver must be made to realize clearly his moral responsibility, for behind the wheel of an automo bile he controls a power that can kill, injure, or maim for life, his fellow man. Speed is Public Enemy Num ber One on our, highways, an enemy that must be held within confines. No one can forsee the child that may dart out in front of an auto mobile traveling 30 miles per hour through a busy intersection but that child is four times as likely to be killed as he would be if the car was going 15 miles per hour. Your conscience alone, can dic tate in such matters whether they be on city streets at 30 miles per hour or highways at 50, 60, or 70 miles per hour. Your automo bile when traveling at 60 miles per hour has the same capacity for inflicting damage as if it were driven off the top of a ten story building. As your speed increases your stopping distance, after applying your brakes, is trebled. If you should be driving at 40 miles per 'ftbuF 1 jtt-' ttight your chance of avoiding an accident, when 200 feet is the margin between you and death, are good. At 60 or 70 miles per hour the chances of your heirs collecting - your life insurance are even better. The turning radius of your car at 25 miles per hour is 80 feet while at 75 miles per hour the dis tance increases to 720 feet. So it is wise to apply those brakes be fore reaching the curve. Speed is costly. Besides en dangering your own and other people’s lives it costs you more in dollars and cents. It has been proven conclusively that it is more economical to drive at mod erate than high speeds. Although we, college students especially, are sometimes inclined to think of ourselves as bold and daring people who look upon cau tion and carefulness as “sissy stuff,” we nevertheless all exer cise a certain amount of it. To gether with conscience, caution is the factor that will determine how heavy a foot is layed upon the accelerator. One million, two-hundred thous and persons were injured, many of them maimed for life, while 33,700 men women and children lost their lives on our streets and highways in 1947, according to Kemper’s “Less Speed . . . More Conscience in Driving” pamphlet. Property damage was upwards of one billion dollars. Present figures are even worse. The list of killed and injured on our highways is ever growing. It how far outnumbers the combined casualty lists of every war the United States was ever engaged in. Less speed, more care, more courtesy—things that cost so little but mean so much, can go a long way in reducing this tragic toll. When you start to drive, start to think. You always have time when you drive safely. Make Your Holidays Safe And Happy, Prexy Advises E VERY day highway and traffic accidents are increasing in number. All major cities of the Nation are actively engaged in safety campaigns in an effort to decrease the number of accidents. We are approaching the Christmas and New Year holiday season of the year at which time the number of traffic accidents is largest. The vast majority of students, faculty and staff mem bers of the College, with their families, probably will be us ing the highways during the holidays, going home for Christ mas or visiting families and friends. Every one of us must use the greatest of caution and care in driving on the crowd ed highways during this winter holiday season. Less speed, more care and alertness are good insurance for arriving at our destination safe and sound. Not only must we be careful in our own driving, but also it is necessary to be ever alert to the other fellow. The prac tice of courtesy in driving can prevent many automobile ac cidents. Many people have failed to learn that gasoline and alcohol not only do not mix but are still the most dangerous combination for motorists, whether behind your steering wheel or the other fellow’s. Christmas is the happiest season of the year. Your loved one are counting on your visit to add to their happi ness. I hope you, will observe every precaution in order not to have your or their happiness changed to sadness. My wish for each and every one of the members of the A. and M. College family, students, faculty and staff, is that you will have your happiest and most enjoyable Christmas season. if], f). ^JJarrincjton President, Texas A&M From Psychological Viewpoint Wreck Collectors Despise Authority By GEORGE CHARLTON Eighty per cent of today’s ser ious automobile accidents are caus ed by a group of drivers who are in the habit of “collecting” wrecks. With them, an accident is not a surprising exception; it’s a regu larity. This is, one of the definite find ings in a research conducted in 1947 by Flanders Dunbar, noted psychiatrist. And Dunbar has the basic char acteristics of this peculiar driv ing breed lined out pretty well: 1. This type of person despises authority, which in the auto-< mobile age includes police men, traffic signals, and road signs. 2. He seems frequently well ad justed, a good fellow, but he’s irresponsible and impulsive. 3. He’s one of those people who •O' £ sitfi just “have to act.” He must get action, and sometimes when he doesn’t accomplish it on the road, he gets flus tered and angry. 4. There may be some emotion al block causing him to be un happy or dissatisfied. This he tries to conquer by “getting back” in his domination of the roads and highways. 5. Therefore, he refuses' to let other drivers pass him and insists on the right of way. The good driver, Dr. W. L. Varvel, head of the Psychology De partment tells us, is a socially con scientious citizen supported by the “arch of good driving.” Compon- epts 'Of this- arch are mental fit ness, knowledge, judgement, attb tude, skill, habits, and physical fitness. “Attitude” is perhaps what psychiatrists know least about, says Varvel. Therefore, of course, it is the most difficult to combat. When a person sits behind the wheel of the car, an exaggerated chance for self expression is af forded him. He has at his com mand sometimes as potent as 145 horsepower worth of destruction. He has at his fingertips the lives of many people—pedestrians and drivers alike. The difference between a good (See JEKYLL-HYDE, Page 7) Lost Bet The driver of this car decided to find out just how fast his new car would go. The bet he won just v/ent to pay the funeral expenses. Oderless Fumes of CO AIw Beware of carbon monox ide poisoning! It can happen to anyone careless enough not to realize the consequence that conse quence is slow death within two to" three hours after inhaling the odorless, tasteless, and colorless gas. The gas causes death by consum ing the oxygen in the blood stream. If a victim of CO poisoning lives, and this is very unlikely, pneu monia or paralysis may sometimes follow. The most common sources of carbon monoxide are the home,- shqp and highway. In the home, the gas may be generated by • improperly vented water heaters; poorly regulated gas burners; or by a car exhaust in a closed garage. You might ask, “What warning, would I have if there was carbon monoxide around?” A person would feel a pressure near his temples, ringing ears,' nausea, se vere headache, fluttering heart, weak legs, hallucinations and blur red vision. As an example of the vicious ness of carbon monoxide poison ing, .take the' case of a young couple driving along a Texas high way with their six-months-old baby sleeping in a basket on the back seat. That car was full of carbon mo noxide gas, but not in sufficient quantities to harm any but the delicate lungs of the child who whs taking his last nap. It only takes, one-tenth of one per cent of carbon monoxide gas to induce unconsciousness in a hu man adult in a little over two hours. In the cases of children and infants, the time consumed is much less. An engine running in an enclos ed space can cause unconsciousness within a very few minutes because the concentration of the gas is so high". Leaky muffler and a broken 1 floorboard could combine very ef ficiently to nut a driver in his cof fin or, in a hospital bed within'a' short time. TRAGEDY AT TWILIGHT Fatal traffic accidents increase at twilight when visibility is poor, traffic heavy. Use your lights, but not your heights. Drive a little slower, be ready to stop a little faster. Be Careful—the life you save may be your owiii Sponsored in the interest of your safety by BRYAN MOTOR CO. “Your Friendly Ford Dealer” BRYAN, TEXAS Think It Over . . Accidents multiply your wor ries; divide your money; add to your discomfort and subtract from your family’s happiness. Be alert—be careful—and make your actions add up to soundness of body and long life. That Speedometer Tells Half Truths As we look at the speedometer, we don’t see even half the truth! The distance on the dial between 35 and 45 miles per hour is exact ly the same as the distance be tween 45 and 55 miles per hour. Yet statistics show that driving between 45 and 55 is twice as dan gerous as driving between 35 and 45. Your Texas Safety Association says, “Remember—every time you step on the throttle, Death is slipping in beside you— hopefully waiting for his chance!’ f/e cou/drit afford to hVe A new tire? Brakes re-lined? Lights replaced? Whatever it was that caused his death, he thought he couldn't afford to have fixed. Don’t you be penny wise and safety foolish. Remember, the safer your car, the safer you are. Be Careful-the life you save may be your own! Sponsored In the interest of your safety by Mil Lee & Co., Inc. Your Nash Dealer 27tli & Bryan ■ffere lies the life of the parly I : • vv- In the midst of merrymaking it’s easy to forget how often “one more drink” leads to one more traffic fatality. If you drink, don’t drive ...if you drive, don’t drink. Be Careful—the life you save may be your own! Spomorsd in the interest of your safety by CALLUS . • . for every form of AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE We represent only the strongest Capital Stock Companies FR V INCEST yndutumce oeJw-fce R. C. FRANKS 2-1265 JOE E. VINCENT Bryan, Texas When it’s a tie-you die! Hundredsof motorists lose their lives every when motorists are only “half-way careful, year in needless accidents like this. Thou- Take a tip from bus drivers. ey a ways sands more are injured, many permanently, come to a full stop, look both ways an is en. Frequently grade crossing accidents result Remember, when it’s a tie—you i The Battalion Phone 4-5444 Classified 4-5324 An official pub lic service mas sage prepared by The Advertising Council in cooperation with the Na- itional Safety Cowncili