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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 14, 1955)
1955 Safety Edition; Please Read Closely The Battalion Number 68: Volume 55 COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1955 Price 5 Cents One Aggie Could Die This Christmas Takes More Than Ten Men For Safety By JIM NEIGHBORS Ten men can’t make the col lege safe; it is the job of ev ery student and college staff member. These were the words of Herman B. Segrest, chairman of the College Accident Prevention Committee. Segrest was speaking of the ten members of the Committee. It is composed of a military department representative, one faculty mem ber from each school, members of the physical plants office and Building and College Utilities De partments, Editor of The Battal ion, Corps Staff representative, and a civilian student repi'esenta- tive. Cooperation is needed from all departments on the campus to help in accident prevention. Safety measures must be taken to cut down the number of accidents. It is the job of the Committee to find out what measures must be taken and to see that the are carried out. Hazards Eliminated Some typical hazards that can be eliminated include low - hanging limbs, loose railings, faulty steps, loose plaster, loose bricks, uncov ered manholes, broken coke bottles, faulty insulation, playing too near dormitories or on concrete side walks, bicycle riding on Wrong side of street or on one-way streets the wrong way or without lights at night, and others. Segrest estimates that more stu dents are injured playing practice intramural football than by any other single means. Students should realize that most accidents ai’e caused by carelessness and they can usually be avoided. The Committee make recommen dations and sends them to the pres ident of the college for approval. Then they act on the recommenda tions and do whatever is necessary to make the campus a safer place in which to work and to live. Dreams End for Somebody Influenza Leads Influenza was the leading disease in the College Station-Bryan area last week with 36 cases reported by the Bryan-Brazos County Health Unit. Strept throat was second with 18 cases reported and mumps was third with 13 cases. Students Facing Holiday Traffic More than 3,000 cars will leave the campus for the Christmas holidays, and if every one of those 3,000 drivers aren’t careful at least one may not return. Of course, it is not always you that causes an accident. But, many times it actually is. If someone isn’t killed during the holidays, there’s sure to be other cars involved in serious wrecks which will result in personal injuries and property damage. A&M has been lucky this year in the number of students killed or injured in automobile accidents. Only two students have been killed this year. Last year at this time three had been killed. One of these, Don Schilling, This Semester Accidents Kill Three By JIM BOWER Three dead and seven injured make up A&M’s tragedy roll for this semester. A gun accident and five car wrecks are the factors responsible for the tragedies. The dead are: Arch C. Baker, 55, killed Nov. 2 when his 20 gauge shotgun acci dentally discharged. Donald Ray Schilling, 19, killed Nov. 13 when his car crashed head- on with another in Pasadena. James E. Sarran, 19, died Nov. 24 as a result of injuries sustained thi’ee days earlier when he was hit by a car while serving coffee to bonfire guards. Shotgun Accident Baker, A&M system architect, was attempting to pick up a tele phone when his shotgun, which he had been cleaning, apparently dropped to the floor and fired. He Took A Chance, The charge went into his right side. He died on the way to the hospital. Schilling, A&M’s first traffic fatality of the year, was going west on the La Porte highway in side the Pasadena city limits when his car crashed head-on into a car driven by a Pasadena youth. The Pasadena boy and two people with him escaped serious injury. Others Injured Two other sophomores, riding in the car with Schilling, suffered cuts and bruises. Also hurt in the crash was his fiance who was last year’s freshman sweetheart at A&M. She too had minor cuts and b raises. Witnesses expressed the belief that there was a two-car race go ing east on the highway when the accident occurred. Sarran was serving coffee to the bonfire guards near the West Gate entrance to the campus when he was struck by a car going north on >ld highway six. Thei'e were several boys around the rear of the coffee truck. When he saw the car approaching, he •houted a warning and pushed two •ther boys to safety. He was caught between the on coming car and the coffee truck. The truck had to be lifted to free him. Sarran Dies Sarran suffered broken legs, arms, pelvis and a concussion. He died at 11:15 p.m. on Thanksgiv ing Day, having remained uncon scious from the time of his injury three days earlier. Two of the sophomores hurt dur ing the Oct. 8 weekend were on their way to Stephen’s College in Missouri to visit one of the boys’ fiance when their car crashed into a bridge railing near Pryor, Okla. They suffered cuts and bruises and were kept in the hospital three days before being released. Cause of the wreck was attrib uted to the fact that the driver of the car was overcome by carbon monoxide fumes which entered the car through a faulty exhaust sys tem. The other sophomore hurt in ; this same weekend was hospitalized [ five days following a car wreck near Texarkana. Two more Aggies received cuts and bruises in a car wreck near Denton, Oct. 14. They were about a mile out of Denton when their car went out 6f control and left the road. Throwing the boys free, the car turned over five times. It was listed gs ■, a total wreck and sold for junk. All of these accidents took place duiang a 30-day period. was killed Nov. 13 near Hous ton following the Rice foot ball game. The other was James Sarran, killed during the bonfire week while serving coffee to fellow students guarding entrances to the campus. He push ed two students to safety before being hit by the car. Every 23 seconds, someone, somewhere in the United States is injured in a traffic accident. And, every 14 minutes, someone dies due to injuries received in traffic acci dents. Last yeai - , 36,000 persons were killed on highways alone. Another 1,250,000 were injured with 1,393,- 000 drivers involved. Property damage ran as high as $4,400,000,- 000. Remember, accidents can happen anytime anywhere. Time lost in industry last year, due to work injuries, was 230,000,000 man-days. Besides this, thei’e arb drownings, fires and explosions to take lives. Approximately 29 per cent of all accidents happening last year involved drivers below the age of 25. Six per cent of all vehicles involved in accidents last year were in unsafe conditions. These prin cipal unsafe conditions involved brakes, tires, lights and steering mechanism. One Aggie .may die during the holidays—don’t let this Aggie be you. Accidents don’t just happen, they are caused by some careless act on your or another’s part. Students Top Accident, Death Record People in the college age group are involved in more fatal accidents every year than persons in any other age or occupational classification. Out of 11,900 accidental death occuring in the 15-24 age group in 1954, 10,900 were caused by motor vehicle accidents. Even at this rate accidents have dropped 6 per cent under 1953, but don’t get too careless — the automobile accident rate is still 14 per cent over what it was in 1949. Other causes of death in or der of their frequency were firearms, railroad accidents, burns, falls, poison gasses and solid or liquid poisons. Safety Edition This special safety edition of The Battalion is for the benefit of those students and faculty who take safety too lightly. It is also for those: that are usual ly careful, for they, too, can have an accident. Please read these stories — and remember them. ’55 National Safety Council Award Presented To City The City of College Station has been awarded the National Safety Council’s “Outstanding City” award in its population class for 1955, according to Sgt. A. E. Jones of the State Highway Department. “The award is presented on the basis of scoring on a check list of over 200 items in the city’s safety program,” said. Sgt. Jones. “These include traffic' regulation, traffic warning signs and facilities, park ing accomodations, number of tick ets given, staff members, judge’s activities, and many others.” Police Chief Lee Norwood gives much of the credit to the drivers of the College Station vicinity. “We handle an amazing amount of traffic at three peak times each day,” Norwood said. “It speaks well for the drivers that we don’t have more accidents than we do.” There have been 57 accidents reported in the city limits of Col lege Station during the past year. A reported accident must involve at least $25 worth of damage. “At least 97 percent of these ac cidents happened 1 on farm road 60, on the stretch from the rail road, through the North Gate area, to Highway 6, and on Highway 6 south to the city limits,” said Chief Norwood. “I can think of only one or two accidents that have happened in the residential area. The city employs three police men in addition to Chief Norwood. They work eight-hour shifts with two on duty at rush times. A study of the College Station Court Docket shows that the offi cers issue an average of five mov ing violation and 40 stationary vio lation tickets each day. Most of the moving violations are speed ing and reckless driving, while most of the parking violations ai’e overparking in the six hour zones at the North Gate. City Judge Phillip B. Goode, professor in the Business Administration Depart ment, presides over court in the city hall once a week. Your Troubles Only Begin With Accident You’ve wrecked your car, sever al people were hurt—not seriously perhaps, just bruised and cut. It looks like a bad accident to you be cause your friends were hurt and your automobile looks like it’s to tally demolished. Actually your trouble is just beginning. According to the Texas Depart ment of Public Safety, when you drive, a motor vehicle on a public street or highway you assume mor ale and legal responsibilities. Sev eral of these obligations begin af ter the accident. Protect the accident scene from further damage by having assist ants flag approaching vehicles from all directions. Have someone turn headlight beams on the wrecked vehicles if the highway is obstructed at night. Keep oth er vehicles parked at least 100 feet from the accident. Give first aid to the injured. Avoid rushing if possible. If in juries appear to be serious, wait for a doctor before moving the person. Call an officer to the scene of the accident. In town call city police and out of city limits call the highway patrol. Get the name and operators lis- cense number of every driver in volved. Get names and addresses of all persons involved in the ac cident. Get information necessary to identify the location of the col lision, such as highway numbers and direction and distance from in tersections and towns. Write down the exact time and date of acci dent, and describe how the accident happened. Report the accident to the De partment of Public Safety on an accident form. You will be sub ject to ari’est within two years from the date of the accident if you fail to report an accident that caused a total damage of $25 or more. You are protected by law against anyone using the informa tion you place on an accident form against you in court. Since it is a state law that ev eryone carry liability insurance on his automobile, all responsible drivers will have it. Get the name of the insurance company and pol icy number of the other driver and give him yours. Report the acci dent to your insurance company, they have to investigate. If you’re lucky,. you will have fulfilled all of your obligations and all obligations to you should have been settled. Doesn ’t Look Serious? But An Aggie Was Killed