The People's Defender

COULD HAVE SAVED 24,000 LIVES
Twenty-four thousand lives would have been saved and nearly a million injuries prevented between 1926 and 1935 had the national trend in motor vehicle accidents kept pace with the reductions made in states having standard drivers' license laws, according to the National Safety Council.
This conclusion is reached in a new study of license regulations, entitled "Saving Lives Through a Drivers' License law." prepared by the Council for free distribution.
Here is irrefutable evidence that the human element, not the mechanical, weather or any other agency, is the principal cause of highway slaughter. In states without adequate drivers' laws - and unless such laws are periodically overhauled to keep pace with changing conditions they are almost certainly inadequate- persons who are congenitally careless and incompetent have accident after accident, and they keep on driving Furthermore, almost anyone can get a license to drive, irrespective of his qualifications.
The standard drivers' license law, which has been adopted by a number of states, does not demand too much. It simply requires that no one shall drive an automobile who is physically or mentally incapable of operating it safely-and that all drivers shall, through tests, show that they are reasonably competent to handle a car, and have a good knowledge of traffic laws and regulations. Also, a sound drivers' law must provide for the automatic revocation of licenses of motorists who refuse to abide by traffic rules, or who are continually involved in accidents.
The cold statistics prove that a modern license law will save lives and property.
Every state should have such a law.