Askov American

War-Time Travel Drop Won't Stop Traffic Mishaps

Motorists Warned of Potential Danger in Poorer Cars and Equipment.

War-time effects on travel reduced passenger car traffic and lower speeds-will not of themselves reduce traffic accidents. If there is to be a reduction it must be brought about by conscious effort of the individual driver. This is the warning brought to Minnesota's highway officials and state safety leaders by Graham Hutton, British information representative, guest at the Minnesota Safety Council's annual meeting held recently in St. Paul.

Might Reduce Accidents.

Taking its cue from Mr. Hutton's disclosures, the State Highway department this week took note of the apparently growing belief that the ban on new automobiles and tires will automatically solve the traffic accident problem. With Sidney J. Williams, public safety director for the National Safety Council, as its authority, the Highway department asserted that three factors of war-time traffic curtailment might tend to reduce accidents.

1. There will be fewer cars in use.
2. Those who use cars may drive less.
3. Motorists may drive slower and more carefully, to "save the car and save the tires."

Danger Factors.

On the other hand, factors will tend to increase traffic deaths and injuries: 1. Tires, used beyond the safety point, will become as dangerous at reduced speeds as good tires were at higher speeds. 2. Cars discarded as unfit for service may go back on the road. 3. Drivers of older cars may have difficulty in keeping them in even reasonably safe condition because of shortage of repair parts and skilled mechanics. 4. War-time urgency for speed in production and transportation of necessities may reflect itself in a mass psychology which, coupled with growing callousness to danger and loss of life, may further aggravate traffic safety problems. 5. Blackouts may come to many cities. 6. If the impression grows that travel curtailment will solve all problems, there may be a serious let-down in personal and organized safety efforts.

Traffic Deaths Trebled In England. Mr. Hutton disclosed traffic deaths trebled under war conditions, despite drastic curtailment of non-essential automobile travel. During 1941, more people were killed in the British Isles by accident than in all the destruction wrought by the Nazi blitzkrieg.

Wise selection in the use of retreads and once-discarded automobile tires has been stressed by the Save-100-Lives committee of the Minnesota Editorial Association in an effort to cut down the 1942 traffic death toll.

Cushioned Hazards.

Ray L. Sicard of Duluth, secretary of the committee states that "retreaded tires can and are being made safely, but they must be turned out by reputable retreaders, and virtually every city, village and town in Minnesota has these shops. Don't try to get 5,000 or 10,000 more miles from an old tire which has already given you 25,000 or 30,000 miles of wear. It simply can't be done or if it can, it means you are riding on a cushioned hazard to your very life."

"The Save-100-Lives committee feels that it can't emphasize too strongly, the need for wise selection of retreaded and discarded tires. And the same wise selection can be applied to inner tubes. Minnesota must save 100 more lives this year and the only way it can retain its safety position in the nation is through the help of the individual motorist," Mr. Sicard said.